Surrounded by bodyguards, he gets into a van after giving a speech at the Anderson school in the city of Quito. Suddenly a burst of shots is heard.
This is what the video shows that captured the moment in which the Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated this Wednesday.
As soon as the death of the journalist-turned-politician was known, the current president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, stated: “Organized crime has come a long way.”
Despite the fact that the investigations have barely begun, there are ample reasons to suspect that this crime, the latest in a series of violent acts that have tarnished the campaign for the anticipated presidential elections on August 20, was the responsibility of one of the powerful organizations criminal groups operating in the South American country.
The suspicions
Within hours of the murder, a video appeared on social networks in which alleged members of the Los Lobos gang not only claimed responsibility for the murder, but also threatened another candidate with the same fate: Jan Topic.
“Every time corrupt politicians do not keep their promises (…) when they receive our money, which is millions of dollars, to finance their campaign, they will be discharged,” says a hooded man, who is surrounded by others, in the recording. more, who are dressed in black, hide their faces and carry long weapons in their arms.
So far the authorities have not confirmed that the recording belongs to Los Lobos and the Ecuadorian non-governmental organization SOS CárcelesEC has questioned its veracity.
However, beyond identifying the group responsible, there are other indications that this murder was carried out by an organization with many long tentacles.
On the one hand, the incident occurred in the capital, far from the country’s coastal areas, which have been considered the main centers of operations for criminal groups and the scene of their activities. And, on the other, the attack took place despite the fact that the candidate was heavily guarded.
President Lasso himself has reinforced suspicions in the speech that he addressed to the country on Wednesday night.
“This is a political crime that acquires a terrorist character,” said the president from the Carondelet presidential palace.
“We do not doubt that this assassination is an attempt to sabotage the electoral process,” he added, while assuring: “We are not going to hand over power and democratic institutions to organized crime.”
more than criminals
Lasso’s harsh statement is not only a product of the commotion caused by the event, but it is part of a position that his administration has been assuming against criminal gangs.
Last April the Ecuadorian government officially declared criminal organizations with ties to the Mexican and Colombian drug cartels and other international criminal groups as “terrorists”.
The decision was adopted by the State and Public Security Council (Cosepe), which concluded that the gangs are a threat that “attacks the structural elements of the State and therefore its integral security,” reported the Ecuadorian Secretary of Public Security. , Wagner Bravo.
The declaration sought to facilitate the incorporation of the Armed Forces into the fight against these groups. This, without the need to dictate measures such as states of exception.
Although the authorities did not specify which gangs they consider to be terrorists, within days the local press began to draw up lists that included the names of up to 20 organizations.
The BBC below presents details of the three most important, according to the number of members they are presumed to have, the impact of their activities and their links with other transnational organisations.
The Wolves
The gang that allegedly claimed responsibility for Villavicencio’s murder is considered the second largest in the country, as it is suspected to have some 8,000 members and has also participated in several of the prison riots that in 2022 left more than 400 dead in the country, reported InsightCrime. .
This group was born as a split from Los Choneros, which until not long ago was considered the most important criminal group in the South American country, added the media specialized in the study of criminal violence in the region.
Although originally its area of action was limited to the mountainous and jungle areas of southern Ecuador, Los Lobos began to expand until they reached the coastal Guayaquil.
Since 2016, the group and its allies have provided weapons and security for the Mexican cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación, which controls part of the cocaine routes in Ecuador, reported the Ecuadorian media Código Vidrio.
However, InsightCrime assures that this gang, together with the Chone Killers and Los Tiguerones, would have formed a new organization called Nueva Generación, which would have carried out several attacks against leaders and territories controlled by Los Choneros.
Although the facilitation of drug trafficking and extortion from prisons are their main activities, in recent years they have found another source of income in the illegal extraction of gold. Thus, the local press claims that they charge a 10% tax to miners who operate illegally in areas such as the jungle province of Imbabura, in the north of the country.
Likewise, they are linked to the 48th Front, a dissidence of the demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
The Choneros
With between 12,000 and 20,000 members at its peak, it became the most important criminal organization in Ecuador.
He was born in the 90s in the city of Chone, in the coastal province of Manabí; and from there it spread to Manta and other locations on the shores of the Pacific.
Authorities originally identified it as an armed wing of a Colombian cartel, which sought to control maritime trafficking routes to Mexico and the United States. But they would also have links with FARC dissidents, to whom they would help to smuggle cocaine from Colombia, according to Ecuadorian media.
However, in recent years Los Choneros would have associated with Mexican criminal organizations.
“The mega-gang of Los Choneros is linked to the Sinaloa cartel,” Colonel Mario Pazmiño, former director of Ecuadorian military intelligence and now a security and defense analyst, assured the Spanish press in 2021.
However, over time the organization evolved and also found a business in prisons. Thus, it came to control several prisons, where its members not only took control of micro-drug trafficking, but also extorted money from inmates and orchestrated kidnappings, reported InsightCrime.
The authorities estimate that the illegal operations they carry out from prisons earn this type of organizations profits of around US$120 million per year.
Other journalistic investigations ensure that criminal organizations such as the Albanian mafia are also operating in Ecuador and that they have or had ties to Los Choneros.
However, the death and capture of several of its leaders, as well as the divisions caused by disputes over the succession, have weakened it in recent years, a situation that its rivals have taken advantage of to hit it.
“The mega gangs need to establish territorial control and they do that with fire and blood,” added Mario Pazmiño to explain the wave of violence, inside and outside prisons, that the country has experienced in recent years.
Between January and June of this year in Ecuador, 3,513 murders have been registered, which means an increase of 58% compared to 2022, the Police recently reported.
The security agency estimates that if this trend continues, the homicide rate will go from 20 to 40 per 100,000 inhabitants, which will make the country the most violent in the region.
The authorities maintain that most of these crimes are the product of the actions of criminal groups.
The aligators
According to the information handled by InsightCrime, this organization born in the prisons of Guayaquil has operated for at least ten years, making its hitmen available to liquidate members and leaders of other larger organizations.
However, at some point he began to dispute territory with Los Choneros and confront them.
Los Lagartos are attributed notorious crimes such as the murder of actor and television presenter Efraín Ruales, which occurred in 2021.
The gang today would have a presence in the country’s 35 prisons and would be another of those responsible for the bloody riots that have occurred in recent years.
Despite all the measures adopted by the authorities, the rise of the Ecuadorian criminal mega-gangs seems to have no end and there are those who assure that they are on their way to becoming cartels.
“Los Choneros, Los Lobos and even other smaller organizations, such as Los Tiguerones and the Chone Killers, are no longer just armed wings in charge of securing shipments, but offer express services for the big Mexican and Balkan cartels (the Albanians especially). They already have control of the internal routes from the borders to the ports,” declared an Ecuadorian official who is investigating the evolution of these criminal groups to the digital newspaper Primicias.
Ecuador’s location, between Colombia and Peru, two of the world’s largest drug producers, along with factors such as institutional weakness and economic inequalities have made the country a fertile ground for organized crime.
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BBC-NEWS-SRC: https://www.bbc.com/mundo/articles/clwze93r4z5o, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-08-10 20:30:09
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