The six arrested for the murder of the Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio They are Colombians, as well as an alleged attacker who died on Wednesday after a shootout with security forces, police said Thursday.
“Everyone, including the deceased, They are Colombians», said the police when consulted by afp.
Before, the Minister of the Interior, Juan Zapatahad already indicated to the press that those arrested were foreigners.
During a press conference in Quito, he added that “those apprehended belong to organized crime groups», without identifying any of the gangs with ties to drug trafficking that operate in the nation.
Villavicencio, 59, was shot dead on Wednesday night as he was leaving a political rally, ahead of the early elections on August 20.
His body is in a funeral home north of Quito, where the family is watching him privately.
In the aftermath of the crime that rocked the once peaceful country, President William Lasso declared a state of emergency for 60 days throughout the territory, in order to mobilize the armed forces and guarantee the electoral process.
The president also ordered three days of national mourning for the Villavicencio assassinationa former journalist and former congressman seeking the presidency of Ecuador for the first time.
During the capture and searches, the police found a rifle, a submachine gun, four pistols, three grenades, two rifle magazines, four boxes of ammunition, two motorcycles, and a stolen vehicle.
Lasso announced this Thursday that the US federal police (FBI) will support Ecuador in the investigations into the Villavicencio homicidewhich in the past uncovered cases of corruption, including the one for which former socialist president Rafael Correa (2007-2017) was sentenced to eight years in prison.
located between Colombia and Peru -the world’s main cocaine producers-, Ecuador seized in 2021 the annual record of 210 tons of drugs. The following year they added 201 tons. Between January and July 2023, 122 tons have already been seized.
