On Friday, five people from one of Ecuador’s largest criminal gangs were charged and sentenced for the murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio last year. Mr Villavicencio, a vocal anti-corruption activist, was shot dead as he left a campaign rally in the capital, Quito, in August 2023. He was also a member of the the country’s National Assembly and one of the only presidential candidates to allege links between organised crime and government officials in Ecuador.
According to reports, the Los Lobos gang was behind the ambush and was supposedly offered more than $200,000 to carry out the hit. Prosecutors found Carlos Angelo, the alleged leader of Los Lobos, guilty of directing the hit from the prison in which he is detained and sentenced him to 34 years. Angulo fervently denies the charges, claiming he was being made a “scapegoat” for the hit. In addition, two men and a woman were handed 12-year sentences for their roles in aiding the attack as well as Laura Castilla who was responsible for the provision of weapons, money and motorcycles.
In the weeks leading up to the election, the politician received numerous death threats and employed a security detail to address the escalating magnitude of these threats. His widow, Veronica Sarauz, welcomed the sentencing but emphasised that this was only the beginning of a long journey to uncover the entire story behind her husband’s death.
Mr Villavicencio was a beacon of hope and justice for Ecuador in the face of deepening corruption and soaring crime rates. Whilst historically a safe Latin American country, the growing presence of Colombian and Mexican drug cartels has been fueling violence and increasing the allure of bribes government officials are offered to turn a blind eye to illicit activities. Yet, the ex-journalist was firmly committed to rooting out corruption and expelling the cartels and gangs.
There are various parallels between the late Mr. Villavicencio and Nayeb Bukele, the current President of the small Central American nation El Salvador. Once the murder capital of the world, over the last 5 years of his presidency, Mr. Bukele has transformed his nation through a hardline, zero-tolerance approach which some have criticized as extreme but one that has clearly proved effective. In fact, over these 5 years, the cartels and gangs have been almost completely rooted out, and El Salvador currently stands as the safest country in the Western Hemisphere, with a lower murder rate than the United States. Mr. Villavicencio was dedicated to doing the same and his death is a stark reminder of the perils of a rise in gang activity in Central/Latin America driven by booming demand for drugs, particularly in parts of the US.
Written by Rakan Pharaon
