By: Euronews
Posted on 08/13/2023 – 09:45
Ecuadorian officials said Saturday that the leader of one of the country’s most powerful criminal gangs, who is accused of threatening a presidential candidate who was later assassinated, has been transferred to a maximum security prison.
About four thousand security men entered prison No. 8 in Guayaquil (southwest) at dawn, where Jose Adolfo Macías, the leader of the “Los Choneros” gang, nicknamed “Vito”, has been held since 2011, in order to secure his transfer.
Announcement
The authorities later published a picture of “Vito”, in which he appeared in his underwear and put his hands on his head, and another picture lying on the ground with dozens of other prisoners.
And Ecuadorian President Guillermo Laso announced on the “X” website (formerly Twitter) that “Vito” had been transferred to the maximum security prison in La Roca, which is part of the prison complex in which he was.
The name “Veto” has made headlines in Ecuador since the assassination of centrist presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, 59, on Wednesday.
Villavicencio, who was ranked second according to opinion polls among the candidates for the elections, was shot dead at the end of an election meeting on Wednesday evening.
Before his death, Villavicencio announced last week that he and his campaign team had received death threats from the leader of the “Los Choneros” gang, who was sentenced to 34 years in prison on charges of murder and drug trafficking.
Viavicencio is a former journalist who investigated drug trafficking in the country.
Six Colombians were arrested in connection with this case, and another person was killed during a shootout with the candidate’s guards.
Andrea Gonzalez, who was a vice-presidential candidate in Villavicencio’s campaign, will run for the presidency in place of his former colleague, their party announced Saturday.
The killing of Villavicencio was condemned by the international community, including the United Nations, the United States and the European Union.
Pope Francis, in a letter addressed to the Archbishop of Quito, Alfredo Espinosa, on Saturday, rejected the acts of violence in Ecuador, deploring the “suffering caused by unjustified violence.”
Additional sources • ap
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2023-08-13 07:49:23
