The body of the assassinated Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was buried in a private ceremony in the country’s capital on Friday night
The 59-year-old was laid to rest in the Monteolivo cemetery in northern Quito, his campaign team confirmed to CNN en Español. They said the burial was carried out in deep privacy, with his coffin escorted by members of the police along with his closest relatives. Villavicencio, an anti-corruption campaigner and lawmaker who was outspoken about the violence caused by drug trafficking in the country, was gunned down at a campaign rally in Quito on Wednesday.
The Andean country, a relatively peaceful nation until a few years ago, is now plagued by a deteriorating security crisis fueled by drug trafficking and a turf war between rival criminal organizations. Violence has been most pronounced on Ecuador’s Pacific coast as criminal groups battle to control and distribute narcotics, primarily cocaine.
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