Ecuadorian authorities have confirmed this week that six Colombian inmates at a jail in Ecuador were suspects of the murder of Ecuadorian anticorruption presidential candidate, Fernando Villavicencio. He was murdered earlier this year while leaving a campaign rally ahead of the first round of voting. He was considered to be one of Ecuadors biggest hopes when it came to helping the country evolve. Villavicencio had posted to social media prior to his death that he was receiving threats to stop mentioning the Los Choneros gang/drug cartel during his campaigns, which led to his death being blamed on an organized crime. The Colombian inmates that werre hired as hitmen were killed last Friday at the Litoral Penitentiary in Ecuadors largest city of Guayaquil.
Personally, after learning about Villavicencios plans for Ecuador, it’s really upsetting to hear that he was killed this way. Much information leads back to his death being due to him continuosly speaking against the Los Choneros gang. He was already making changes before being elected, such as being a union leader at the state oil company, Petroecuador, as well as played a crucial role in exposing and convicting former President Rafael Correa in a bribery scandal. He had big plans for Ecuador that were sadly cut short. Colombia as a country had no real issues with his policies, in fact they agreed with some, the hitmen hired just happened to be Colombians. This article specifically does a great job at displaying the possible motives that led to his killings as well as giving an unbiased opinion.
This situation ties back to our class when it comes to the drug cartel that Villavicencio targeted, they are considered a non-state actor, which is a term we consistently use in class. Clearly a drug cartel is not funded by or in any way supported by the government. Villavicencio made it clear how he felt about the Los Choneros drug cartel, which led to the Colombian hitmen being hired and his life coming to an abrupt ending.