Flowers hang from the gate of the cemetery during the funeral of slain presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in Quito, Ecuador, Friday, Aug. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa) Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Amanda Villavicencio, daughter of Fernando Villavicencio, Ecuador’s presidential candidate assassinated during a campaign rally, arrives at the cemetery where her father’s body was transferred, in Quito, Ecuador, on August 10, 2023. Villavicencio was shot to death at the departure of a rally in a school in the Ecuadorian capital less than two weeks before the presidential elections on August 20. (AP Photo/Carlos Noriega) Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
The funeral procession carrying the body of assassinated presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio leaves the morgue in Quito, Ecuador, Thursday, August 10, 2023. Villavicencio was shot dead as he was leaving an electoral act at a school in the Ecuadorian capital on Wednesday afternoon, less than two weeks before the August 20 presidential election. (AP Photo/Carlos Noriega) Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Lorena Villavicencio, sister of slain presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, hugs her husband outside the morgue where her brother’s body rested, in Quito, Ecuador, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. Villavicencio was shot dead on the way out of an electoral act in a school in the Ecuadorian capital, less than weeks before the presidential elections on August 20. (AP Photo/Carlos Noriega) Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Villavicencio’s murder occurred on Wednesday at the end of a rally when, after getting into a truck, he received a burst of shots.
The candidate was taken to a nearby clinic but died minutes later. Nine people were injured in the attack, including a candidate for assembly and three security agents.
The preventive detention against the suspects was ordered at the hearing to formulate charges after the Prosecutor’s Office presented 22 pieces of evidence and argued the national and international social commotion caused by the crime in Villavicencio, as well as the high risk of flight of foreigners, the agency reported in a statement on the social network X, formerly called Twitter.
The six Colombians were apprehended on Wednesday night in a house in the south of the capital. Another implicated, who was killed in the exchange of bullets during the attack, had been arrested in June for illegal possession of weapons but was released.
The Public Ministry exposed before the judge the evidence raised at the crime scene and during the raids in several areas of Quito that allowed the capture of the suspects. Among the elements presented are witness accounts, autopsy protocols, security camera videos, as well as a fingerprint found on an abandoned motorcycle, the report specified.
A stolen vehicle, two motorcycles, a suitcase with rifles, a submachine gun, four pistols, three grenades, an ammunition box containing 384 cartridges, two rifle magazines and 64 pods were added to the material handed over by the Prosecutor’s Office.
The entity also reported that the investigation period will last 30 days.
On an atypical holiday for the anniversary of Independence, Villavicencio’s wake was held in a calm atmosphere after the confusion and chaos that had been experienced in recent days.
On the outskirts of the cemetery in the north of the capital, family members participated in the funeral services, which are kept private.
With a drum and visible pain on her face, Tamia Villavicencio, daughter of Fernando Villavicencio, expressed her regret after singing a song. “I always told him ‘you can’t carry the entire weight of a homeland on your shoulders and be the only one who denounces'”.
The young woman asked for understanding for the private nature of the ceremony. “Know that there is danger for the family and you cannot have such a big exposure,” she explained.
“The body is only the body, but the spirit is alive within all of us,” he added, and in a calm but firm tone he commented, “I want to say that Fernando lives and you will see his legacy in a few years.”
The daughter summoned everyone to live the ceremony in peace, with love and without hate. “I invite all nations and peoples to take power over their own lives and not let corruption pass through their homes or anywhere,” she added.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
