(CNN Spanish) – The National Service for Comprehensive Care to Adults Deprived of Liberty (SNAI) reported this Saturday that Guayas No. 1 internment camp now has seven prisoners who died in an incident on Friday. They were all accused of the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio last August.
The police and the SNAI have not yet reported the context in which the inmates died. CNN consulted the SNAI on the circumstances in which the bodies were found, but according to the institution, criminalistics will be responsible for publishing a report on the autopsies.
For his part, President Guillermo Lasso reported that he had suspended the trip, which was scheduled to begin this weekend in South Korea, to address the prison crisis triggered by the deaths of prisoners linked to the assassination of Villavicencio.
“The security cabinet is currently active. We will keep you updated,” Lasso posted. in his account of the social network X (formerly Twitter).
This Friday, the SNAI reported the first six dead Colombian prisoners, the same day that the Ecuadorian Interior Minister publicly announced that the police report on possible responsibilities and security surrounding former candidate Villavicencio was ready for publication, but approval was awaited is from the Ministry of Security in order to be able to lift the reservation of publication.
The Construye Movement, a party that nominated Fernando Villavicencio as presidential candidate, had asked Lasso to confirm the identities of the prisoners killed that Friday and to clarify whether among the deceased were those imprisoned for the candidate’s assassination .
On September 28, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered a $5 million reward for “information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of the individuals responsible for the murder of Fernando Villavicencio” and $1 million for the investigation Names of these people from leaders of criminal gangs related to crime.
Villavicencio was assassinated on August 9th during a campaign rally in Quito, a few days before the August 20th elections.