President Guillermo Lasso announced that the FBI will collaborate in the investigations into the murder of Fernando Villavicencio. That formula has been used before.
Destroyed cars and debris in the Cristo del Consuelo neighborhood, in Guayaquil, on August 14, 2022.
In the next few hours, according to the president, a delegation from the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will arrive in Ecuador.
The US agents will collaborate with the Ecuadorian Police in the investigation of the murder of Fernando Villavicencio, which occurred on the afternoon of August 9, 2023, in Quito.
Villavicencio, presidential candidate for the Construye Movement and former assembly member, was the object of an armed attack when he was leaving a political rally. A shot to his head from him ended his life.
The Lasso government publicly offered to reach the perpetrators of the crime. And, for that, he requested the help of the FBI, which is the agency in charge of national security and intelligence in the United States. The application would have been accepted.
This is the fourth time, since 2018 -when the crisis of violence and insecurity in Ecuador began-, that the country has turned to the FBI to investigate crimes committed by drug-criminal organizations.
Other calls to the FBI
These are the other three times Ecuador has sought out the FBI to help investigate local crimes.
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The terrorist attack in San Lorenzo
On January 27, 2018, a car bomb detonated near the San Lorenzo police station, in Esmeraldas. The explosion destroyed the structure and was the beginning of a wave of violence on the northern border, which included the murder in captivity of three journalists.
This attack, attributed to the Oliver Sinisterra Front -FARC dissidence allied to Mexican drug cartels-, is the beginning of the security crisis that Ecuador is experiencing and which has worsened five years later.
At that juncture, the FBI sent a special team to work on the investigation. The US agents conducted an overflight in the area and gathered information to identify the explosives used in the attack.
On March 13, 2019, the Esmeraldas Court of Criminal Guarantees sentenced 14 members of the Oliver Sinisterra group. They were prosecuted for organized crime and terroris
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Explosion in Cristo del Consuelo
In the early morning of August 14, 2022, a large-scale explosion shook the residents of 10th and H streets, in the southwest of Guayaquil. The place is known as Calle 8, a poor neighborhood in the city.
The National Risk Management Service reported five deaths, three died at the scene of the explosion, and the others in hospitals. In addition, there are 17 injured in the city’s health homes.
The Prosecutor’s Office requested support from the FBI to investigate the conditions of the terrorist attack. Agents specializing in explosives arrived who determined that a bomb based on ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer used for homemade bombs, was used.
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Anti-terrorism training
In May 2023, Fausto Salinas, General Commander of the Police, informed the country that the FBI will be in charge of training the National Police in anti-terrorist techniques.
A total of 1,700 Ecuadorian police officers received training in police operations, close combat, resolving ambushes, and target capture.
After completing this training, the uniformed officers joined special Police units such as the Intervention and Rescue Group (GIR), the Special Operations Group (GOE) and the Anti-Narcotics Bureau.
