Relatives of Villavicencio in Ecuador say that his wife does not let them enter the wake

Relatives of Fernando Villavicencio, the candidate for the Presidency of Ecuador who was assassinated last Wednesday, denounced this Friday that his wife does not let them enter the funeral home where the wake is installed.

The body of Villavicencio, who was shot to death on Wednesday afternoon as he left a rally at a school, has been lying since Thursday in a funeral home in the north of Quito where he was transferred after an autopsy was carried out at the Centro of Legal Medicine.

During the afternoon of Thursday, the mortal remains of Villavicencio were watched over exclusively by the family and close relatives.

However, Villavicencio's niece assured the media at the gates of the funeral home that, along with other members of her family, including the mother and two of the deceased's daughters, from a previous marriage, they have not been able to enter the chapel. of vigil.

“The lady (Verónica Sarauz, the last wife) is not even part of the family, we want to be with them, they have not allowed us to watch over her since yesterday,” said the niece, Nina Osorio to the media.

The young woman, who returned from Spain on Thursday, asks that “they allow him to watch over him with dignity and affection”, since he assures that they have “kidnapped” him.

“If I had died, I would not have allowed my body to be kidnapped,” Osorio said from one side of the entrance gate, while his sister denounced that they have been denied access to the parents and yelled for entry.

The family denies “the kidnapping”

Tamia Villavicencio, one of the eldest daughters of the former candidate, denied, from outside the entrance gate where they have not allowed her access for a while, that it was a “kidnapping”, but that “it is a matter of hours” that they can see the deceased and for the safety surrounding the family after the murder.

“Understand that she (Verónica Sarauz) is very sensitive, she still cannot understand what is happening,” said the young woman, who improvised a song for her father at the doors of the funeral home.

Relatives still do not know where Villavicencio will be buried and fear they too will be denied access to the ceremony, despite the tragedy.

In principle, a tribute to the candidate is scheduled for noon this Friday, one of the eight who had registered to succeed the current president, the conservative Guillermo Lasso, in the extraordinary elections called for next Sunday, August 20.

Attempt

The attack also left at least nine injured, five of whom are in stable condition at the Women's Clinic, according to a statement from the medical center where Villavicencio also arrived “in a sudden condition” and where they failed to save his life.

For their part, the Ecuadorian authorities have arrested six people, all of them Colombians, on suspicion of being the perpetrators of the crime, who are in pretrial detention by court order, but it is still unknown who may have ordered the murder.

According to the Ecuadorian authorities, a seventh man who died after being wounded during the exchange of fire between the attackers and the security personnel guarding Villavicencio was also Colombian.