The Diplomat
The six people arrested for the murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio were remanded in custody yesterday. All of them are Colombians and allegedly hired assassins, although it is not yet known whether they belong to a drug cartel.
Interior Minister Juan Zapata identified the detainees to the media as Andrés M., José L., Adey G., Camilo R., Jules C. and John R. Police confirmed that the murder suspect who was wounded and later died in the shootout with Villavicencio’s bodyguards is also Colombian.
During the arrest of the suspects, a rifle, a submachine gun, four pistols, three grenades, two rifle magazines, four boxes of ammunition, two motorbikes and a vehicle reported stolen, “where the members of this criminal group were allegedly travelling”, said the minister. According to Zapata, “two of those arrested were fully identified at the scene of the crime”.
For his part, Defence Minister General Luis Lara reported that the deployment of military troops throughout the country has already begun. “It is necessary to understand that the mafias have declared war on Ecuador and that the State and the Armed Forces will respond with all their power to confront the murderers, their accomplices, those who finance them, those who protect them,” Lara said.
Minister Zapata added his voice to that of the president, Guillermo Lasso, who described the murder “as a political crime of a terrorist nature, an attempt to sabotage the upcoming elections”.
While it is being determined whether or not the assassins belong to a drug cartel, the United States has announced that it will send an FBI delegation to assist in the investigation into the murder of the presidential candidate. The arrival of the FBI in Ecuador was confirmed Thursday on social networks by President Lasso, who said he asked the United States for the support of the federal investigative agency to clarify this crime.
Mexico’s foreign minister, Alicia Bárcena, also expressed her government’s “willingness” to help Ecuador in any way necessary after the murder of the candidate, and said that they would remain “attentive” to any revelations about the motive for the crime. “It is still very early days, at this moment we are at the disposal of whatever the government of Ecuador needs,” Bárcena said in statements to the press.
