Costa Rica extradites alleged murderer of Venezuelan military dissident to Chile

This Tuesday, authorities in Costa Rica announced the extradition to Chile of Maikel Villegas, main suspect in the murder of exiled Venezuelan lieutenant Ronald Ojeda, which occurred in Santiago in February of this year.

Costa Rican Security Minister Mario Zamora, that the country is fulfilling its international responsibilities by collaborating in a case with political and human rights implications. "Costa Rica is fulfilling its international responsibilities by extraditing a person related to the murder of an anti-Maduro regime political leader, who was campaigning against the Venezuelan dictatorship in Chile and who was killed because of those opposition activities," he stated.

Villegas was transferred to Costa Rica in a military plane of the Chilean Air Force (FACH) and handed over at the international airport of San José to agents of the Chilean Investigative Police, where he will face justice.

The Ronald Ojeda case: a crime with political overtones

Ojeda, 32, was abducted on February 21 from his home in Santiago by individuals posing as police officers. Days later, his body was found inside a suitcase buried in a peripheral sector of the Chilean capital. According to Chilean prosecutors, everything points to the fact that the murder had a political motive, given that Ojeda was a known critic of Nicolas Maduro's regime.

Ojeda had obtained refuge in Chile after escaping from a Venezuelan prison, where he was accused of conspiracy against the regime. On social networks, he defined himself as a "political prisoner" and was active in his campaign against the Venezuelan dictatorship.

Villegas' capture

Villegas, 27, was arrested in July at the Costa Rican-Panamanian border while attempting to cross the border into Panama bound for the United States. According to authorities, the suspect had traveled through several countries in the continent despite being the suspect in an active Interpol red alert.