Prosecutors investigating the murder of Ecuadorean presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio say his assassination was planned from jail. They have asked for six suspects – five Ecuadoreans and one Colombian – to be charged in connection with the murder.
Villavicencio, 59, was shot dead as he was leaving a campaign rally in the capital, Quito, days before the presidential election in August 2023. He had denounced the influence of gangs and promised to tackle them.
In the weeks leading up to the election, the politician had received death threats and been given a security detail. But he continued to campaign and was gunned down by a group of assailants on 9 August outside a school in the north of Quito.
There has been an explosion in gang violence in Ecuador in recent years which has led President Daniel Noboa to declare a state of emergency.
Credit: bbc.com
