SANTIAGO, CHILE. He Chilean government will call its ambassador in Venezuela, Jaime Gazmuri, for consultationsin protest for some recent statements by the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Yván Gilin which denied the existence of the transregional criminal organization “Tren de Aragua”, announced the Chilean president, Gabriel Boric. “I have made the decision to call our ambassador in Venezuela, James Gasmuri. “This measure aims to be able to collect detailed information about the current situation in the country and evaluate all measures that are necessary to protect the interests and security of our citizens and those who inhabit our homeland,” he stated.
During a speech at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new building of the National Headquarters of Police Intelligence Investigations, The president also accused Venezuela of not cooperate with southern countries as it does with the United States in the fight against irregular migration and regional organized crime.
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Likewise, he stressed that denying a reality that he considers tangible and accredited “is not an option,” and described Gil’s words about ‘The Aragua Train’an organization that was born in the prisons of Venezuela and that now has its tentacles in the north of Chili and its capital.
“The recent irresponsible statements by the chancellor of Venezuela who are unaware of the existence of ´Aragua Train´a criminal group known for its illicit activities in Chili and throughout the South American region, are deeply worrying and constitute a serious insult to those who have been victims of this organization and also to their families,” he stated.
“And we take it as an insult also to the States that have been victims of the ‘Aragua Train’. This lack of recognition of a reality that is evident and proven not only demonstrates a Lack of compromise with the necessary international security cooperation, but also demonstrates a refusal to effectively address the transnational problems of organized crime today,” he said.
He Tren de Aragua is a criminal gang born in Venezuela in 2014 whose tentacles have expanded since 2018 to other Latin American countries, such as Colombia, Peru and Chile.
The most recent verbal exchange between the Chilean and Venezuelan authorities began on Monday when Gil said that “The Aragua Train is a fiction created by the international media to try to create a non-existent label“.
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In the face of criticism from the Chilean authorities, Gil reiterated on Tuesday that “the fight against the scourge of crime cannot rely on the creation of a false narrative.” and that “criminal gang labels have been created with the sole purpose of muddying the Venezuelan people and their government.”
In recent years, Chile, one of the most stable and safe countries in the region, has seen an increase in violent crimes and a greater frequency of previously rare crimessuch as extortionate kidnappings, which authorities attribute to the penetration of organized crime.