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Colombian hitmen in spotlight after assassination of Ecuador presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio
- Six Columbian suspects have been accused of gunning down the anti-corruption crusader at a campaign rally
- Colombia has a long history of politicians being assassinated by opponents, and experts say Villavicencio’s killing shows gangs exporting political hitjob culture to other nations
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Two years after a Colombian squad allegedly shot dead the president of Haiti, authorities in Ecuador have accused a group of Colombians of being behind the assassination of a top presidential candidate, pointing to the export of a culture of political hitjobs.
Colombia has a long history of politicians being assassinated by opponents, drug traffickers, or paramilitaries, and even its president, Gustavo Petro, campaigned before his election from behind a wall of bulletproof shields.
After the shock assassination of Ecuador journalist and anti-corruption crusader Fernando Villavicencio on Wednesday, authorities released pictures of six Columbian suspects, one of them splattered with blood.
A seventh suspect was killed in a shoot-out at the scene of the crime.
The country’s main newspaper, El Universo, reported Villavicencio was assassinated “hitman-style and with three shots to the head.”
Police said the suspects were arrested in a series of raids in which they also found a rifle, a machine gun, grenades and ammunition.
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