Fernando Villavicencio, 59, has vowed to crack down on corruption and take on the drug dealers who he says have turned Ecuador into a drug trade. condition' Photo: KAREN TORO/REUTERS
Joe Biden prepares to send the FBI to Ecuador to help authorities investigate the murder of a presidential candidate shot dead on Wednesday.
Police have arrested six people in connection with the murder of the 59-year-old Fernando Villavicencio, who vowed to end the corruption and take on the drug dealers who, he said, turned Ecuador into a «narco-state.»
Mr. Villavicencio has vowed to strengthen Ecuadorian ties with the UK to reduce the amount of cocaine smuggled into the UK by the «Albanian mafia».
He was killed on Wednesday as he left a school north of the center of the country. the capital of Quito, where he held a campaign rally.
The suspected shooter was wounded in a shootout with security forces and taken to the prosecutor's office, where he died from his injuries.
< img src="/wp-content /uploads/2023/08/768a9bc1848eda42421b8d46dc0fbaca.jpg" />Supporters run for cover after gunshots are fired at the end of the rally. Credit: STRINGER/AFP
Police raided addresses in Quito's Conocoto and San Bartolo areas and detained six suspects on Thursday, all Colombian citizens, according to the Attorney General. office.
An official source told The Telegraph that the White House has offered to help the FBI investigate the death of Mr. Villavicencio.
The perpetrators of the murder have yet to be identified, but Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso suggested that Mr. Villavicencio was the victim of a gang assassination and that «the full weight of the law will fall on them.»
Mr. Lasso declared a state of emergency for 60 days and ordered troops to take to the streets to keep the peace as the country enters a three-day period of national mourning.
Night marches were held in several cities condemning the murder. Wednesday, including Mr. Villavicencio Alausi's hometown.
A woman was wounded by gunshots at the end of the rally. Photo: STR/AFP
“This is a political crime. , which has the nature of terrorism, and we have no doubt that this murder is an attempt to sabotage the electoral process,” Mr. Lasso said in a video message after meeting with the security forces.
The presidential election will be on August 20, he said.< /p>«Bold attack on democracy»
Brian Nichols, US Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere, called the incident «a brazen attack on democracy and the rule of law.»
«We call on the relevant authorities to conduct a prompt and thorough investigation. and offer our support,” he tweeted in a statement.
Shortly after the attack, a video surfaced online showing masked men allegedly from the Los Lobos (“Wolves”) gang taking on responsible for the attack and accusing Mr. Villavicencio of taking their money and not keeping his promises.
In the second video, people without masks, who also claimed to be from the Los Lobos gang, stated that they were not responsible for the murder, and that the first video was created in order to set them up.
Online footage of masked men believed to be from the Los Lobos (Wolves) gang who claimed responsibility for the attack. Photo: TWITTER/@ioangrillo 
Footage from the second video shows unmasked men who also claimed to be from the Los Lobos gang, denying their guilt. blame their rivals, but despite these public claims and counterclaims, they believe that Los Lobos is behind Mr. Villavicencio's murder. the actions of others,” the source said. “Therefore, public statements of this kind should be taken with caution.”
“I am not afraid of them”
Before the assassination, Mr. Villavicencio said that he had been threatened by the leader of another group. , Los Choneros, who said that the gang would kill him if he continued to refer to them in his campaign against violent crime and corruption.
“This confirms that our campaign proposal does seriously affect these criminal structures. «, he said in a video posted online.
“And here I am, showing my face. I am not afraid of them. For 20 years I have played in this country against these criminal structures and I repeat: I am not afraid of them.”
Ecuador has experienced a surge in violent crime in recent years after Colombian and Mexican drug cartels infiltrated local gangs.
Political assassinations, car bombings and shootings have become commonplace in many cities in Ecuador, and the murder rate has quadrupled in the last four years.
Ecuador, drug-dealing state'
The violence is fueled by an increase in drug trafficking by organized criminals from Albania and South America who export drugs to the US and Europe. On Thursday, authorities in the Netherlands seized more than eight tons of cocaine from a container. The ship that arrived from Ecuador is the largest find in history.
Inspectors said they found about 600 million euros (£520 million) worth of cocaine hidden in 12 pallets of bananas that were delivered to Rotterdam via Panama.
р><р>Rising crime has dominated Ecuador's presidential campaign, which Mr. Lasso launched earlier this year.
Mr. Villavicencio, a former journalist, trade unionist and leader of the Movimiento Construye party, built his campaign on promises. to end political corruption, and was a vocal critic of Rafael Correa, the former president.
He was convicted of libel and sentenced to 18 months in prison after he published an investigation alleging that the army killed not less than five people. while freeing Mr. Correa from hostage in 2010.
While his campaign drew the ire of organized crime, it also had a base of public support, with Mr. Villavicencio in the spotlight this month . an eight-man presidential race.
In an interview with CNN earlier this year, he ridiculed Ecuador as a «narco-state» and vowed to take on the «political mafia» that he said colluded with organized crime and failed to reduce the rate of violent crime.
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