Fernando Villavicencio Killing:6 Colombians arrested;Presidential elections to go ahead on 20 August
Six Colombians were arrested in Ecuador late yesterday in connection with the killing of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio a day earlier. Villavicencio, a well-known anti-corruption crusader, was shot dead as he left a campaign event in the capital city. A 7th suspect was killed in a shootout with police following the assassination. The ‘Los Lobos’ gang has taken responsibility for this killing which has been described as a "political crime of a terrorist nature" aimed at sabotaging the August 20 presidential election. The Ecuadorian government has said that although the assassination was an attempt to sabotage the election, the vote will nevertheless go ahead. Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso has declared a two-month state of emergency after the incident apart from declaring three days of mourning. The question which now what does this assassination mean for Ecuador.
#Fernandovillvicencio #Ecuadoremergenc #Ecuador
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#Fernandovillvicencio #Ecuadoremergenc #Ecuador
~HT.178~PR.153~ED.101~
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NewsTranscript
00:00 6 Colombians were arrested in Ecuador late yesterday in connection with the killing of
00:10 the presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio a day earlier.
00:14 Villavicencio, a well-known anti-corruption crusader, was shot dead as he left a campaign
00:19 event in the capital city.
00:21 A seventh suspect was killed in a shootout with police following the assassination.
00:26 The Los Lobos gang has taken responsibility for this killing, which has been described
00:30 as a political crime of a terrorist nature aimed at sabotaging the August 20 presidential
00:36 election.
00:37 The Ecuadorian government has said that although the assassination was an attempt to indeed
00:41 sabotage the election, the vote will nevertheless go ahead.
00:45 Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso has declared a two-month state of emergency after the incident,
00:51 apart from declaring three days of mourning.
00:53 The question which now arises is what does this killing mean for Ecuador?
00:58 Fernando Villavicencio was an outspoken critic of corruption and the drug trafficking groups
01:03 that have expanded their influence in Ecuador in recent years.
01:07 Ecuador was once regarded as a source of relative calm in a region with a long history of violence
01:12 and civil conflict.
01:14 But over the last several years, the country has seen a surge in crime, with 2022 tallying
01:19 record levels of homicides and drug seizures.
01:23 Given Ecuador's location on the coast between cocaine-producing regions in Peru and Colombia,
01:27 the country has become much sought-after territory for the drug trade.
01:32 Ecuador's gangs have increasingly joined forces with international drug trafficking
01:35 organizations, helping to drive the spike in violence.
01:39 There are a few reasons cartels now have a larger presence in the country than they previously
01:44 did.
01:45 A 2016 peace agreement between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces
01:49 of Colombia opened up competition when it came to control over cocaine transport routes
01:54 in Ecuador.
01:55 As a result, multiple cartels from Mexico and Albania set up shop in the region in a
02:00 bid to secure access.
02:03 Policies that the Ecuadorian government implemented also played an important role.
02:07 In an effort to be more independent from the United States, Ecuador cut ties with America's
02:12 drug enforcement agency, which ultimately led to less policing of activity along its
02:17 shores.
02:18 That decision made it easier for drug traffickers to operate in the country where they had to
02:23 deal with less security.
02:25 The increase in violence can be seen in other domains as well.
02:28 The National Police recorded 5,000 cases of extortion in 2022, a figure that is already
02:34 on track to double by the end of this year.
02:37 Prisons where gangs exercise substantial control have been sites of especially grim violence.
02:43 More than 30 people were killed in riots last month at a prison leading the Lasso government
02:48 to deploy armed forces to take back control of the facility.
02:51 Calls have been growing in Ecuador to implement a state of exception similar to El Salvador's
02:56 where certain civil liberties have been suspended in order to sweep tens of thousands of alleged
03:01 gang members into prison.
03:03 Ecuador isn't the only place facing this challenge.
03:06 Multiple Latin and Central American countries, including Colombia and Costa Rica, have also
03:11 seen sharp upticks in certain crimes as different cartels have sought to assert dominance in
03:16 these areas over the last couple of years.
03:18 Villa Vicencio's death has put a massive spotlight on this problem and presses Ecuador's
03:24 government and those of other countries to work on both strengthening their security
03:28 policies and rooting out corruption as well as gang violence.
03:31 [MUSIC]