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Thousands of soldiers transferred Vito, the leader of the country’s most dangerous gang, to a maximum security prison, accused of killing a presidential candidate.
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Thousands of Ecuadorian soldiers and police have participated in the transfer of “Vito”, the country’s most dangerous and notorious gang leader, to a maximum security prison where he will be held.
Ecuadorean authorities have accused José Adolfo Macías, known as “Vito”, of threatening to kill Ecuadorean presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, who has already been killed.
Villavicencio, an anti-corruption activist who is running for Ecuador’s presidency, was shot three times in the head as he left a rally on Wednesday.
Villavicencio announced before his death that he had received death threats from Vito.
He told his supporters, they threatened me that if I continued… mentioning the name of Los Choneros (of which Vito leads), they will break me.”
Villavicencio’s death has shocked Ecuador, which has largely escaped decades of drug cartel violence, organized crime wars and corruption that has blighted many of its neighbours.
But the country has seen a rise in crime rates in recent years, due to the growth of Colombian and Mexican drug cartels.
After the killing of Villavicencio, his “Constroy” party announced, on Saturday, the candidacy of his deputy, Andrea Gonzalez, to continue the presidential race.
Candidate Gonzalez’s career has focused heavily on environmental issues, and the party has said she will ensure that Villavicencio’s “legacy” continues.
This comes while Veronica Saroz, the widow of Villavicencio, held the state responsible for her husband’s death, and said she was unhappy with the party’s choice of Gonzalez as her husband’s replacement to run in the elections.
Villavicencio’s campaign focused on fighting corruption and drug cartels. Villavicencio was one of the candidates who alleged links between organized crime syndicates and Ecuadorian government officials.
A day before his assassination, he had filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, alleging irregularities in the oil contracts negotiated during the administration of former President Rafael Correa, which cost the country $9 billion.
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Vito appeared in police custody almost without clothes during his transfer from his old prison
Six Colombians have been arrested in connection with the murder, while the seventh was killed in a shootout. The authorities did not say who hired the killers and paid them.
As for Vito, the leader of the Los Choneros gang, he had been held in Prison 8 in Guayaquil since 2011, and video clips published by the security forces showed Vito handcuffed to his underwear while he was being transferred to another high-security prison.
Ecuador’s current president, Guillermo Lasso, said Vito was transferred to La Roca, a maximum security prison that holds just 150 people and is part of the same complex.
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2023-08-13 19:01:13
