Ecuadorian Interior Minister Juan Zapata confirmed on Sunday that a team from the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is participating in the investigation into the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.
Quito.- As Zapata pointed out at a press conference on Sunday, the US delegation is on national territory, and in the next few hours it will hold a tripartite meeting with the National Police and the Attorney General’s Office “to determine the scope of collaboration.”
The headline reiterated that up to now, there are six Colombians detained as they are considered possible material authors of the attack on Villavicencio and they are joined by another suspect of the same nationality, who died on August 9, the same day of the crime, under unclear circumstances.
Apparently, according to authorities, the deceased criminal was the one who shot the politician directly when he was leaving an electoral rally in northern Quito.
The minister called for information from official sources on the progress of the investigations and did not confirm any hypotheses about the masterminds behind the assassination.
Police Commander Fausto Salinas, in turn, noted that this case was given a special category and the investigation and intelligence units were available to locate the alleged perpetrators of the violent act, who are detained.
He pointed out that they contacted Colombian authorities to protect the border and prevent the escape of those responsible for the crime.
Given the possible involvement of members of Villavicencio’s security detail in the events, as denounced by his wife Salinas commented, they talked with part of the team and ordered an operational evaluation to understand the scope of what happened, but he still does not have a theory.
Regarding the health of the nine people injured, including some police officers, they are stable and recovering.
Villavicencio’s assassination on Wednesday shocked the country and there are doubts and speculation about a possible relationship between the police and their security team with the attack. (PL)
