Quito.- Five people who entered a medical center on Wednesday with injuries after the attack in which presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated are “stable,” the Women’s Clinic said Thursday.
In a statement, it indicated that, after the attack, eight patients simultaneously entered the emergency area of that health home, located about 200 meters from the school where the perpetrators of the attacks shot at Villavicencio at the end of a rally.
The patients were admitted “with wounds and trauma, presumably caused by firearms,” the letter said.
He added that they treated the injured “immediately and in a timely manner, in accordance with the START triage protocols and they were stabilized” by a multidisciplinary medical team.
“Of the eight patients treated, one patient (Villavicencio) was admitted in sudden critical condition, with severe damage and despite all efforts, his death could not be avoided,” said the Clinic where Villavicencio died.
He added that two patients underwent surgery immediately and are stable, while another patient is stable and will undergo surgery in the next few hours.
Two patients were treated with minor injuries and another two were referred to other medical centers, he specified in the statement in which he stressed that “all patients hospitalized at Clínica de la Mujer are in stable conditions and their clinical-surgical evolution will be communicated directly to their relatives.”
RESEARCH
A delegation from the United States FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) will arrive in Ecuador in the next few hours to support the investigation into the murder of Villavicencio, which occurred on Wednesday afternoon.
The arrival of the FBI in Ecuador was confirmed this Thursday on social networks by President Guillermo Lasso, who indicated that he requested the US support from the federal investigative agency to clarify this crime.
After the murder of Villavicencio became known, the United States Government offered the Ecuadorian Executive “urgent investigative assistance” through its ambassador in Quito, Michael J. Fitzpatrick.
This participation of the FBI in the murder investigation is part of the close relationship that the United States and Ecuador have built in the last two years, especially since Lasso came to power, with cooperation in different matters, including security.
So far, the authorities have reported the arrest of six Colombians, suspected of having participated in the attack, in which nine people were injured, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.
One more suspect died after being wounded in the exchange of shots that the attackers had with the security personnel who were protecting the candidate.
The Minister of the Interior, Juan Zapata, indicated that “due to the preliminary information collected, it is confirmed that those apprehended belong to organized crime groups.”
UNCHANGEABLE CALENDAR
The National Electoral Council has ratified that the extraordinary general elections on August 20 will remain unchanged, and said that it hopes that the political movement that nominated Villavicencio appoints his replacement.
The current electoral process in Ecuador responds to the unprecedented application of a constitutional mechanism called “cross death”, invoked last May by the country’s president, the conservative Guillermo Lasso.
With this resource, Lasso dissolved the National Assembly (Parliament) and forced the early calling of elections, which implied the reduction of his mandate.
For this reason, the authorities that are designated in said votes will complete the 2021-2025 period that corresponded to Lasso, who is not presenting himself as a candidate.
