The president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, called his ambassador in Caracas for consultations this Thursday, reiterating that he considers the statements of the Venezuelan foreign minister who referred to the criminal group “irresponsible” and “worrying”. the Aragua Train as a media “fiction.”
“The purpose of this measure is to be able to collect detailed information about the current situation in the country and evaluate all the measures that are necessary to protect the interests and security of our citizens and those who inhabit our homeland,” he said, ensuring that Venezuela will not responsible for the crimes that some compatriots commit in other countries.
Boric also said that another objective is to agree and instruct the Chilean ambassador in Venezuela, Jaime Gazmuri, “all the actions that are necessary” both before the Venezuelan government and before, eventually, international organizations.
This week, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela, Yvan Gil, said that the criminal organization, which has expanded to several countries in the region, is a “fiction” created by the international media to try to “create a label.”
“Now they invent a so-called Aragua Train, an organization that existed in Venezuela, localized and that they then tried to brand. We have seen how ridiculously videos appear and even people who say we are from the Tren de Aragua, with a Peruvian accent, a Chilean accent. “It's about creating a brand,” he said Monday at a press conference with his Colombian counterpart, Luis Gilberto Murillo.
Boric said that the criminal group is known for its illicit activities in Chile and South America and that the foreign minister's statements are “worrying” and an insult to the States that are victims of the organization.
“Organized crime is a serious concern in all the countries of our region and the different governments have to act together to confront it, which is why denial is useless and is not tolerable,” he said.
The Chilean president expressed special concern about what he described as the Venezuelan government's “lack of collaboration” in key areas of security, such as the expulsion of individuals responsible for committing crimes in Chilean territory.
“In Venezuela there has been an exodus of millions of Venezuelans, the majority honest people who are looking for other destinations, who are looking for a better life for their families, but also some criminals who have caused a lot of damage in various countries in the region and Venezuela is not collaborating. with the countries of the south, if it does so with the United States,” he insisted.
The Aragua Train emerged in Venezuela and, according to the organization Insight Crime, its expansion to countries such as Peru, Chile and Colombia occurred at least since 2018 “at the expense of the mass exodus” of Venezuelans. The organized crime gang has dedicated itself to criminal activities such as extortion, kidnapping, homicide, hitmen, drug sales, arms and human trafficking, according to specialists in criminal matters.
It operated from the Tocorón prison, in the state of Aragua, in central Venezuela, and at the end of last year, the government of President Nicolás Maduro launched an operation to dismantle it and give it an “end”.
According to Insight Crime, a think tank dedicated to deepening the debate on organized crime and citizen security in Latin America, despite the blow of the loss of its base of operations, the gang's leadership escaped and “its transnational cells “They continue to operate.”
Recently, the Attorney General of Venezuela, Tarek William Saab, assured that “a myth has been built” about the Aragua Train to attack, persecute and offend Venezuelan democracy and stated that it has been given power that “it has never had.” . Furthermore, he insisted that an attempt has been made to create a matrix that aims to link it to factors of the Venezuelan State.
Last month, a group of US lawmakers asked President Joe Biden to designate the Tren de Aragua as a transnational criminal organization, following the publication of reports suggesting the presence of members of the gang on US soil.
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