Supporters, friends, and relatives of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio on Thursday considered the assassination of the politician as an offense against the State.

Quito.- Outside the National Electoral Council (CNE) and at Independence Square, in front of the Carondelet Palace, Villavicencio’s followers called for justice and blamed the Government for leaving him unprotected ahead of insecurity and threats he condemned.

On behalf of Villavicencio’s relatives, Luis Fernández, lawyer and friend of the presidential candidate, was one of those who considered this case as an offense against the State and announced they will analyze legal actions afterward.

Villavicencio’s corpse is currently in one of the rooms of the Memorial Funeral Home, located in the north of Quito.

Amid social commotion and demands to find culprits, the Ecuadorian President, Guillermo Lasso asked the FBI for support to investigate the incident and confirmed an FBI delegation will arrive in Ecuador on Friday.

Former President Rafael Correa, on the other hand, said this decision evidences the incapacity and ineptitude of the current Executive to solve the case, which is a result of the existing insecurity and social neglect.

So far, six people have been arrested for allegedly being linked to the crime, and another suspect died last night at the headquarters of the Flagrancy Unit of the Prosecutor’s Office.

According to Interior Minister Juan Zapata, all of those arrested are foreign nationals.

He also stated the National Police will use all its operative and investigative capacity to clear up the reason for the crime. (PL)