Several candidates for the presidency of Ecuador signed a joint agreement for peace in the country.
Andrea González Nader, Xavier Hervas, Bolívar Armijos, Otto Sonnenholzner, Yaku Pérez agreed on several points, among which the following stand out: to demand speed from the authorities in the process of investigating the murder of Fernando Villavicencio, to demand that the government execute the security budget of urgent way.
In addition, they say in a statement, that they hold the National Government responsible for the ‘exponential increase in criminal violence.’
The Ecuadorian Prosecutor’s Office reported this Friday that there are 6 people arrested for the crime of Villavicencio.
3 hours ago
Offerings at the place where Fernando Villavicencio was shot
By Ana Maria Cañizares
This is what the exterior of Anderson College looks like this Friday night. In this place Fernando Villavicencio was shot after leaving a political rally on Wednesday.
Credit: Ana María Cañizares
Credit: Ana María Cañizares
7 hours ago
The main criminal groups in Ecuador
Aerial view of the Guayas 1 prison in Guayaquil, Ecuador, on July 23, 2023. Credit: STR/AFP via Getty Images
The Choneros
Emerged in the late 1990s in the coastal city of Chone, Manabí province, the Los Choneros gang has become the largest in Ecuador, according to Insight Crime, a research center on organized crime on the continent. American.
The gang has been linked to the Sinaloa Cartel of Mexico and the Oliver Sinisterra Front (FOS) of Colombia, and together with both organizations it is dedicated to maritime drug trafficking to Mexico and the United States, but it is also dedicated to micro-drug trafficking , smuggling, extortion and contract killings, with a presence in various cities and prisons in Ecuador.
According to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a network of investigative journalists, Los Choneros have mainly exploited the Pacific illicit drug route, which passes through Ecuador and concentrates 74% of the cocaine that reaches North America. .
But it is from 2011, when many of its leaders were imprisoned, that Los Choneros evolved and became a gang with a strong presence in the Ecuadorian prison system, according to Insight Crime.
In recent years, Los Choneros have been under attack in a war against their main rivals, Los Lobos, and other small gangs, in prisons and on the streets of the country.
The Wolves
According to Insight Crime, Los Lobos, a gang that emerged as a dissident of Los Choneros, has become the second largest organization in Ecuador, with nearly 8,000 members.
The main characteristic of Los Lobos, according to this source, is that they are in command of a federation of small gangs, including the Tiguerones, the Chone Killers.
This federation has allowed them to confront Los Choneros, and they have been linked to the Mexican Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG) and the Colombian Front 48 —according to the Primicias portal, cited by Insight Crime-: their main criminal activity is the transport of Colombian cocaine to the north.
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8 hours ago
The coffin of Fernando Villavicencio arrives at the Quito Exhibition Center
By Ana Maria Cañizares
Friends, supporters and relatives gather at the Quito Exhibition Center in the Ecuadorian capital to pay tribute to Fernando Villavicencio.
Credit: RODRIGO BUENDIA/AFP via Getty Images
10 hours ago
Petro spoke with Lasso about the murder of Villavicencio
By Tatiana Arias
Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he spoke with Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso about the assassination of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio after a campaign event in Quito two days ago.
“Yesterday I spoke with President Lasso about the assassination of the [presidential] candidate,” Petro said Friday during a hearing on an unrelated matter in which he declared a state of emergency in the northern department of La Guajira due to an “economic” problem. , social” and ecological crisis”.
Petro did not provide additional details about the conversation with his Ecuadorian counterpart.
All six suspects arrested in connection with Villavicencio’s murder are Colombian citizens, Ecuador’s Interior Minister Juan Zapata told CNN on Thursday. They are now under preventive detention, according to a statement from the Ecuadorian Prosecutor’s Office.
10 hours ago
“My country hurts me”: Ecuadorians share their fears after the murder of Fernando Villavicencio
This is how Ecuadorians reacted to the murder of Villavicencio 1:31
The assassination of Ecuador’s presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in the north of Quito, during a political event shook the country. See what the opinion of citizens of Ecuador is before an episode of violence.
