The hypothesis behind the murder of nine Colombians in Ecuador: a pamphlet would be key

The authorities in Ecuador continue to carry out investigations into the massacre in which 10 people, nine of them Colombian nationals, were shot to death early Sunday morning in a rural area in the southwest of that country, where A state of emergency is in effect.

“There are nine dead bodies and a kilometer further in there is a corpse that is completely dismembered in a sack. (…) In total there would be ten” bodies found by the authorities in a rural sector of the El Guabo canton, in the province from El Oro, Colonel Pablo Fajardo, police commander in that area, told the press on Sunday morning.

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The first investigations by the authorities allowed the victims to be identified. The Ecuadorian citizen was identified as Marco Antonio Isves Niemes, 21 years old, while the Colombians are Samuel Antonio Cárdenas Cortés, Alejandro Saiz Poveda, Luis Fernando Alpala Alpala, Luis Guillermo Banquet Rivero, Diego David Benavides Cifuentes, Yostin Riascos Romero, José Miguel Araujo Buila, Alexander Arroyo and Nepomuceano Ramos Madronero.

In Ecuador, police intelligence units have been deployed in El Guabo to identify and catch the perpetrators of what they describe as a massacre.

What was found at the crime scene?

According to what was known, all the victims died from “firearm projectile impacts,” said a police spokesperson. At the scene, investigators found automatic rifle and nine-millimeter bullets. The authorities report more than 45 shell casings collected, which correspond to firearms of different calibers, both rifle and pistol. They were attacked while they were resting,” around 5 a.m. local time, Colonel Fajardo added.

Some of the bodies were found inside a home while others were lying on a nearby road. “They were trying to escape this massacre,” Fajardo explained.

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In that sense, the investigation has divided the scene of the massacres into three spaces: inside the building, outside it and one kilometer away, where they found one of the 10 bodies.

The victims, Colonel Fajardo said, had rented a home in the sector days before. The authorities presume that these 10 people were resting when the attack occurred, since mattresses and other belongings were found inside the house.

The key piece: a pamphlet

The reports indicate, so far, that in the early hours of this Sunday, when the attack occurred, an armed group entered the home and began shooting. Thus, five of the victims were killed inside the building, while another four fell while trying to flee through the streets. The tenth victim was found dismembered a kilometer away, abandoned in a gunny sack.

The first investigations by the authorities raise a hypothesis that links the attack to the dispute between criminal gangs that operate in the province of El Oro, where El Guabo is located. The reason is that, along with the shell casings, a pamphlet was found with an intimidating message that alluded to a “settling of scores” between criminal groups.

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It must be said that El Oro is one of the six provinces of Ecuador that are under a state of emergency due to the uptick in violence. Added to the list are Los Ríos, Manabí, Santa Elena, El Oro and the Amazonian Orellana, in addition to the cities of Quito (Pichincha province), and the mining town of Camilo Ponce Enríquez (in Azuay).

In his war against organized crime, the Ecuadorian president, Daniel Noboa, has continually appealed to this measure that suspends rights such as freedom of assembly or the inviolability of the home.

The authorities are working, for now, to establish when and how those nine people entered Ecuador, as well as the reasons for their stay in that area of ​​El Oro, where they were with an Ecuadorian citizen, also murdered. According to initial investigations, none of the deceased had a criminal record..

However, for the authorities the key piece of the case would be the pamphlet found at the scene of the massacre, as it contained direct threats towards those linked to rival groups, which reinforces the hypothesis of a confrontation between organized gangs in the area.

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The murder of these 10 people also demonstrates the power of criminal gangs in the province of El Orowhere in just three days 27 people have been killed in armed attacks, according to local press reports.

For its part, the Government of Ecuador indicates that between January and October of this year it has managed to reduce the homicide rate compared to last year, from 6,037 in the same period of 2023 to 4,959 this year. However, violent deaths in the neighboring country have skyrocketed in recent years: the homicide rate went from six murders per 100,000 inhabitants in 2018 to 47 in 2023.