Ecuador: Five Jailed for 2023 Presidential Candidate Murder

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Facts

  • A three-judge court in Ecuador has sentenced five individuals — found guilty in the August 2023 killing of presidential hopeful Fernando Villavicencio — to prison, capping a trial that began late June.1
  • Carlos Edwin Angulo Lara and Laura Dayanara Castillo were sentenced to 34 years and eight months, while Erick Ramírez, Victor Flores, and Alexandra Chimbo were sentenced to 12 years.2
  • While the first two were each fined $460K and ordered to pay $100K in compensation to the victim's family, the other three were each ordered to pay over $156K in fines and $33K to the Villavicencios.3
  • Previously, a key witness told the court that the Los Lobos gang, led allegedly by Angulo, had been offered over $200K to kill Villavicencio.4
  • The witness also alleged that the defendants worked for individuals with links to exiled former Pres. Rafael Correa, who denies any connection with Villavicencio's murder. A separate probe into who ordered the killing is underway.5
  • A total of 13 people have been accused in the case so far, including multiple suspects who died in prison last October while in pre-trial detention.6

Sources: 1CNN, 2Sky News, 3Associated Press, 4BBC News, 5Al Jazeera and 6Guardian.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by War on the Rocks. The high-profile assassination of Fernando Villavicencio wasn't an isolated incident in violence-ridden Ecuador, as gangs have killed many popular figures — from officials and politicians to athletes, artists, and prominent drug lords. As Quito has sought to curb the rising crime and corruption once and for all with a state of emergency, American support may prove crucial.
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Craig Murray. One must be disturbingly naive at best to believe that further US interference is what Ecuador needs after the killing of a presidential candidate who had long been an alleged CIA asset. Though Villavicencio fabricated lies to boost the Russiagate invention and resolutely obstructed the impeachment of US-backed Guillermo Lasso, his candidacy had turned him into a dangerous liability for the Agency.

Predictions