FBI agents to investigate murder of Ecuador presidential candidate
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The Biden administration intends to deploy the Federal Bureau of Investigation to Ecuador to assist with the inquiry into the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.
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The FBI seal is pictured in Omaha, Neb., Aug. 10, 2022. (AP)
Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso revealed that agents from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will be dispatched to Ecuador to assist in the investigation of the murder of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in Quito.
Lasso made this announcement on X (formerly Twitter), revealing that the FBI had accepted the request and a delegation would arrive shortly.
Despite the assassination of Villavicencio, Diana Atamaint, the head of Ecuador's National Electoral Council, confirmed that the early presidential election scheduled for August 20 will proceed as planned.
The country's armed forces will enhance security measures for the electoral process, including doubling protection for remaining presidential candidates and assigning escorts for election officials.
Villavicencio was fatally shot, and nine others were injured during an attack at a campaign rally. Reports indicate that Villavicencio had previously received multiple death threats.
The Ecuadorian General Prosecutor's Office reported that a primary suspect in the assassination died from injuries sustained during arrest, and six individuals were apprehended in connection with the incident.
In response to Villavicencio's killing, President Lasso declared a 60-day state of emergency nationwide and announced three days of national mourning.
Social media videos depict Villavicencio, a former journalist who was outspoken about the alleged connections between organized crime and politics, encircled by supporters and being accompanied by security guards to a waiting vehicle when gunshots ring out, and people begin to scream and take cover.
President Guillermo Lasso was "outraged and shocked by the assassination" and would convene a meeting of his security cabinet. "For his memory and his fight, I assure you that this crime will not remain unpunished," he stressed.
