Ecuador requests the support of the FBI to investigate the murder of Fernando Villavicencio

2023-08-11 02:05:19

While Ecuador continues to be shocked by the murder of Fernando Villavicencio A few minutes after leading an electoral rally in a central area of ​​Quito, police authorities and prosecutors are continuing their investigations.

Against this backdrop, President Guillermo Lasso He informed through the social network X that the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) accepted his request for support in the investigations and that in the next few hours a delegation from the agency would be arriving in the Ecuadorian capital to begin its work.

I have requested support from the FBI for the investigation of the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio Valencia. The US Federal Intelligence and Investigation Agency accepted our request and in the next few hours a delegation will arrive in the country.

— Guillermo Lasso (@LassoGuillermo) August 10, 2023

In fact, the US had already offered its “urgent investigative assistance” through its ambassador Michael J. Fitzpatrick and shortly before and through the same social network, the Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinknoted that “we are prepared to help local authorities bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous act.”

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For his part, Veronica SarauzVillavicencio’s wife, pointed out through X that “my husband was assassinated because he was the only one who faced the political mafias and drug traffickers in this country”, one of the main arguments of the candidate in his rallies and interviews with the media.

The political movement for which Villavicencio was presented, builddemanded through a statement that “an international commission be formed that is part of the investigation of this assassination” and informed that it will constitute a “follow-up team of the legal process” that is followed around the murder.

The six detainees are Colombian

On the other hand, the government reported that the six people arrested after the attack have Colombian nationality and are members of an organized group. In this sense, the Minister of the Interior, Juan Zapata, confirmed the search of several homes and the seizure of weapons, ammunition and drugs. He said that this “terrorist” crime is “an attempt to sabotage the next elections”, which maintains its original date of August 20.