$5 Million Reward Offered for Information on Murder of Ecuadorian Presidential Candidate Fernando Villavicencio

2023-09-29 00:58:35

The Secretary of the United States Department of State, Antony Blinken, offered this Thursday up to $5 million in exchange for information that would allow those responsible for the murder of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio to be arrested or convicted.

In addition, he announced a second reward of up to one million dollars for information that allows identifying or locating these individuals.

The Ecuadorian Police managed to arrest six Colombian citizens who were allegedly members of a Colombian organized crime group. The investigation – supported by the FBI – continues to seek to identify others involved. (File photo). | Photo: KAREN TORO

“As a sign of our commitment to justice and the fight once morest crime, the State Department announced a reward of up to $5 million for information that leads to the arrest or conviction of those responsible for the murder of Fernando Villavicencio,” he published Blinken on his social network account X, formerly Twitter.

Villavicencio was attacked and murdered on August 9 by several hitmen at the end of a political rally of the Movimiento Construye party and, although the Ecuadorian Police managed to arrest six Colombian citizens who were allegedly members of a Colombian organized crime group, the investigation – supported by the FBI – continues to seek to identify others involved.

The State Department has requested that any of this information be sent by email to ‘[email protected]’ or by telephone call from within Ecuador to 131, the number of the country’s Joint Rewards Force.

In that sense, he indicated that any clue or information can be sent anonymously and that any identity provided will remain “strictly confidential.”

Four of the arrests have been made in Social Rehabilitation Centers on the outskirts of Quito and the town of Latacunga, in the Cotopaxi region. | Photo: WEEK

Joint operations for the death of Villavicencio

The Prosecutor’s Office and the Police of Ecuador have maintained operations since August to provide justice in the case of the murdered presidential candidate. At the beginning of September, six people were arrested in three provinces; the authorities are seeking to reach the masterminds of the crime.

The authorities have not clarified the possible degree of connection of these people with the attack on Villavicencio, committed on August 9, at the end of a political event and in the middle of the campaign for the presidential elections on the 20th. Six Colombian citizens were detained in question of hours for his alleged involvement.

The American Federal Police participates in the investigations into the murder of the presidential candidate. The organization “accepted” the request and sent a delegation to the country.

The crime led the president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, to decree a state of emergency, in a context marked in the South American country for months by the increase in insecurity, both on the street and in prison, apparently as a result of an uptick in clashes between armed gangs.

Even the party of the presidential candidate murdered in Ecuador, Fernando Villavicencio, accused the political forces of former socialist president Rafael Correa of ​​obstructing the investigation into the assassination that occurred on August 9, in the middle of the electoral campaign.

Police secure the scene outside a school where presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was shot and killed during a campaign event in Quito, Ecuador, on Wednesday, August 9, 2023. | Photo: 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

*With information from Europa Press.

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