QUITO: Ecuadorian Police has arrested six Colombian citizens in connection with the assassination of a presidential candidate, western media reported on Friday.
Fernando Villavicencio, 59, was killed yesterday during an election campaign in Quito.
Earlier, Interior Minister Juan Zapata had said that all the suspects behind the assassination of Villavicencio were foreigners.
Ecuadorian Presidential Candidate Assassinated
According to AFP one of the alleged attackers was killed by security personnel, and six other people were arrested. Police said all of the suspects are Colombians.
After the incident, President Guillermo Lasso announced an emergency in the country for a period of two months. He also declared three days of mourning over the tragic incident.
A journalist by profession, Villavicencio was one of eight candidates in the August 20 presidential run. He was considered to be a strong candidate for the post of president.
Last month the mayor of the nation’s second-biggest port, Manta, was also shot dead.
Villavicencio had promised to renegotiate agreements with foreign oil and mining companies and to take a hard line against the drug groups behind a surge in violence.
Villavicencio became a household name in Ecuador during the 2007-2017 government of President Rafael Correa, when he exposed corruption scandals related to loans from China, and illegal campaign financing.
