Ecuador Fires Security Officials After Assassination Suspects Killed

Facts

• On Saturday, Ecuador's Pres. Guillermo Lasso expelled the country's national police chief and the head of the prison service following the murder of seven people allegedly involved in presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio's assassination.¹
• While Guayaquil's No. 1 prison superintendent has been detained for questioning, six remaining suspects have been transferred to a different prison.²
• Additionally, an investigation has been launched into the prisons agency, SNAI, as a pending order to transfer the six inmates killed on Friday wasn't carried out.³
• The deaths of the six Colombians — reportedly found hanging in cellblock 7 of the Guayaquil prison — comes just a week before Ecuador heads to the presidential polls.⁴
• The seventh suspect was killed inside a prison in Quito. The prison service identified him as 'José M.' but didn't reveal his nationality or how he was murdered.⁵
• Villavicencio, a vocal critic of the illicit drug trade and widespread corruption, was gunned down on Aug. 9 as he left a campaign rally in an SUV.⁶

Sources: ¹Wall Street Journal, ²Bloomberg, ³Reuters, ⁴El país english, ⁵Abc news and ⁶NPR Online News.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Buenos aires herald. The Ecuadorian government will do whatever it takes to get to the bottom of these killings, identifying those behind the assassination of Villavicencio and the prisoners. There's no room for complicity or cover-up in this investigation, as the truth must be unveiled.
• Narrative B, as provided by Cuencahighlife. Ecuador has failed to protect prisoners from harm, outrageously detaining suspects in the investigation into the killing of Villavicencio and the cartels that ordered the assassination. This was a tragedy waiting to happen.

Predictions