by Alberto Galvi –
Six Colombian citizens have been arrested in Ecuador in connection with the assassination of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. The police report does not say whether the Colombians are members of a criminal group. During searches in the homes of the six, a rifle, a machine gun, four pistols, three grenades, two rifle magazines, four boxes of ammunition, two motorcycles and a vehicle reported as stolen were found.
Ecuador’s Interior Minister Juan Zapata said those arrested were linked to organized crime, although he did not provide further details. Another suspect, also a Colombian, died of wounds sustained in a shootout with police. Zapata had previously confirmed the arrest of some foreigners in the case, although he did not provide their nationalities.
During the electoral campaign, Villavicencio had spoken out against drug cartels, and was assassinated in Quito. He was not a favorite for president, but his death heightened the sense of frustration with the presence of organized crime, responsible for thousands of victims. For Zapata this is the challenge that the next leader of Ecuador will have to face.
Villavicencio said he was threatened by affiliates of the Mexican Sinaloa cartel, one of several internationally organized crime groups now also operating in Ecuador.
Villavicencio was an independent journalist who investigated corruption in previous governments before entering politics. He was one of the country’s most critical voices of President Rafael Correa’s 2007-17 government. Villavicencio has filed numerous judicial complaints against members of the Correa government and also against the former president himself. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison for libel for his criticism of Correa and fled to Ecuador’s indigenous territory, later receiving asylum in neighboring Peru. One of Villavicencio’s investigations resulted in Correa being sentenced to 8 years for corruption.
Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso said the killing would not prevent Ecuador from holding its presidential vote on August 20. The involvement of Colombian citizens brings to mind the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, in which a dozen shots were fired at his private home. Among those arrested are 18 former Colombian soldiers.
Lasso has asked for the FBI’s help in investigating the Villavicencio shooting, and agents from the US agency are expected to arrive in Ecuador soon. Lasso declared three days of national mourning and a state of emergency that calls for the deployment of additional military personnel across the country.
