Chilean President Gabriel Boric (left) and Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Yván Gil (right). Photo: Reuters/Al Jazeera.
The president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, recalled the Chilean ambassador to Venezuela for consultation, after Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil urged the Chilean government to assume responsibility and professionalism in combating organized crime in Chile.
“The fight against the scourge of organized crime cannot be based on the creation of a false narrative; Chile knows very well that narratives about criminal gangs have been created with the sole purpose of smearing the Venezuelan people and the Venezuelan government,” Minister Gil commented.
He highlighted that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has expressed his willingness to provide assistance to Chile’s fight against criminal gangs, since Venezuela has experience in safeguarding internal peace, security and tranquility of its people. In view of this, President Maduro made available “all the resources of our successful model when required by the Chilean government,” Gil added.
El combate al flagelo de la delincuencia no puede apoyarse en la creación de una narrativa falsa, bien sabe Chile que se han creado etiquetas de bandas criminales con el único fin de enlodar el gentilicio venezolano y a su gobierno.
El Presidente @NicolasMaduro ha manifestado… https://t.co/fRLkiHJNGU
— Yvan Gil (@yvangil) April 9, 2024
“We have seen, for example, ridiculous videos in which people claim ‘we are from the Tren de Aragua’ but they have a Peruvian accent, or a Chilean accent,” Gil said during a bilateral meeting with Colombian authorities in Cúcuta, Colombia. He was referring to recent claims in Chilean media and social media that the Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua has gone “international” and is operating all over the American continent, while in reality the Venezuelan government has already dismantled the notorious gang.
The Venezuelan foreign minister urged the Chilean president not to echo false narratives that promote xenophobia against Venezuelans and to “discard the story invented by the mainstream media and take on the fight against crime in a professional manner.”
Mythification of Tren de Aragua Compared to Real Criminal Gangs in Latin America
The Chilean president’s claims
At a press conference on Thursday, April 11, in Santiago, Chilean President Gabriel Boric called Gil’s comments “irresponsible.” He said “The irresponsible statements of the Venezuelan foreign minister… are deeply worrying and constitute a serious insult to those who have been victims of this gang.”
For this reason, he called for consultation with the Chilean ambassador to Venezuela, Jaime Gazmuri.
According to Boric, Chile has been experiencing an increase in crime in recent years, which has led to the homicide rate growing from 4.5 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2018 to 6.7 in 2022. He attributed this to supposed activities of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua in Chile, dismissing his government’s responsibilities to combat crime in Chile and preferring to blame Venezuela for Chile’s problems. The narrative has acted as fuel to the already high levels of xenophobia against Venezuelans in Chile.
President Boric even claimed that “Venezuela is not collaborating with the countries of the south… and is not assuming its responsibility for this situation,” as if it was a responsibility of the Venezuelan government.
The Chilean president has called President Nicolás Maduro a dictator on several occasions and even recognized Juan Guaidó at one point of time. Therefore his support for this new anti-Venezuela frenzy whipped up by the US-sponsored media propaganda is not surprising.
(RedRadioVE) by Victoria Torres, with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/DZ
