Tren de Aragua Inflaming Tensions in South America

Written by Joseph Cain | April 22, 2024

Gabriel Boric (President of Chile)

In the past week, Gabriel Boric (President of Chile) recalled his ambassador from Venezuela after Tren de Aragua’s sophisticated kidnapping and murder of former Venezuelan Military Officer, and political refugee, Ronald Ojeda in Santiago, Chile. The primary driver for Boric’s decision was the comment made by the Foreign Minister of Venezuela, Yvan Gil, that Tren de Aragua was a fiction created by the international media to tarnish Venezuela’s reputation. 

The initial kidnapping took place on September 21^st, and Ojeda was found dead buried under cement ten days later by Chilean authorities. Ojeda was previously expelled from the Venezuelan military and accused by the Ministry of Defense of planning ‘criminal and terrorist actions’ against the state, according to InSight Crime. 

Responding to Nicolas Maduro’s request for dialogue, President Boric stated that he was available for discussion on how to combat the group with Venezuela’s autocratic leader. Furthermore, Boric accused the Venezuelans of not helping the southern cone countries in combatting irregular migration and crime exported from Venezuela over the past several years. With or without Maduro’s support, Boric has pledged to dismantle the criminal group by sea, land, or air.

Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal organization (TCO), was founded in Venezuela and represents the most powerful criminal threat emanating from the troubled country. There are concerns from international investigators that due to the sophistication of the operation— which included new tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs)—, the Venezuelan state’s complex relationship with the group, and the political status of Ojeda, the operation was carried out at the behest of the Venezuelan regime. 

Overall, this dispute between Chile and Venezuela represents a further fracturing of solidarity between the nations of Latin America. It has been just a few weeks after a major diplomatic dispute between Colombia and Argentina due to Milei’s comments towards President Petro. Additionally the suspension of diplomatic relations between Ecuador and Mexico because of the raid on the Mexican embassy in Quito.