Ecuador's prison officials confirmed on Friday, October 6, that six individuals apprehended as the accused murderers of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in August were killed inside a jail in Guayaquil.
The prison administration has confirmed that six Columbian inmates who died at Litoral Penitentiary were the suspects in the death of ex-presidential candidate Villavicencio. Jhon Gregore R., Andrés Manuel M., Adey Fernando G., Camilo Andrés R., Sules Osmini C., and José Neyder L. are the names given.
In Relation to Murder of Villavicencio
According to CBS News, the news organization had previously stated that "an event occurred inside" the jail, resulting in the deaths of six inmates. Over the previous three years, many disturbances at Ecuador's largest and most deadly jail, Litoral, have resulted in many fatalities there.
The murders happened as prosecutors were wrapping up their investigation into Villavicencio's August 9 shooting death as he left a political gathering.
Villavicencio's suspected assassins were arrested hours after the incident and placed in preventative prison. There have been a total of six further arrests made on suspicion of participation.
On Friday, police did not comment on the murders, but local media said that they took place in Pavillion 7, an area controlled by Los Choneros, a local gang controlled by Adolfo Macías. Villaviciencio made it a point to call out Macías as the source of death threats throughout his campaign.
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Shift From Calm to Chaos
The 59-year-old lawmaker and former journalist was still a terrible reminder of the rise in crime besetting Ecuador less than two weeks before the election. He said that members of the Sinaloa drug cartel in Mexico had threatened him. The Sinaloa cartel is only one of numerous international criminal organizations with a presence in Ecuador.
Villavicencio did not hold back his criticism when it came to the ties between organized crime and government officials.
A political science professor at Florida International University, Eduardo Gamarra, told CBS News that Villavicencio's willingness to speak his mind may have contributed to his untimely demise. "One of the most notorious and prescient things that he said, that he always said, is that it would cost him his life."
For a long time, Ecuador has had a reputation as one of South America's most peaceful countries. But Gamarra, a specialist in Latin America, says that the nation is becoming more violent, unsafe, and fatal. The current situation, he added, is reminiscent of Colombia in the 1980s and 1990s, when drug conflicts there led to the deaths of journalists, judges, and even a presidential contender named Luis Carlos Galan.
While traditionally peaceful, violence in Ecuador has increased dramatically over the last year as drug traffickers have rushed to the South American country. This has led to an alarming rise in drug trafficking, violent deaths, and the recruitment of children by gangs.
