Prison authorities have disclosed the demise of six Colombian suspects linked to the assassination of Ecuador‘s presidential candidate and fervent anti-corruption campaigner, Fernando Villavicencio, just seven days before a critical election run-off.
President Guillermo Lasso, a prominent right-wing figure, had embarked on a private journey to New York and was slated for an official visit to South Korea on Saturday. However, he opted to cancel his foreign itinerary and return to Ecuador without delay to address the unfolding incident.
A statement from the SNAI prisons authority reported a concerning occurrence at Guayas 1 prison in Guayaquil, which regrettably resulted in the deaths of six individuals.
It later clarified the deceased were ‘of Colombian nationality and accused of the murder of former presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.’
The journalist Villavicencio, aged 59, met a tragic fate on August 9 when he was fatally shot while leaving a campaign rally in the capital city of Quito, a mere 11 days prior to the first round of voting.
Upon hearing about the prison deaths, Lasso declared that he would be making his way back home.
Read also: Frontline Presidential Candidate Shot Dead In Ecuador
‘In the next few hours I will return to Ecuador to attend to this emergency. Neither complicity nor cover-up, here the truth will be known,’ Lasso said on X, formerly Twitter.
The public prosecutor’s office said that its agents, along with police and the military, were ‘executing security protocols… in light of the disturbance that occurred Friday afternoon.’
It added in a statement on X that ‘in the coming hours, specialized military personnel will carry out the first raids and reconnaissance of Cellblock 7, where the incidents originated, to take control of the situation.’
Authorities have not given any more information about the killings, which come just days before the second round of voting in the presidential election on October 15.
In the run-off election, voters will choose between a candidate who has a close affiliation with former socialist president Rafael Correa, a figure whom Villavicencio vehemently opposed, and a candidate representing the right wing.