Portugal Colonial - Ecuador charges trio in presidential hopeful's assassination

Fernando Villavicencio, 59, was polling in second place when he was shot and killed at a campaign event 11 days before the election.

Previously, he had exposed a vast graft network as an investigative journalist, leading to socialist former president Rafael Correa being sentenced to eight years in prison.

Correa fled the country to avoid jail time and has been exiled in Belgium.

Villavicencio reported receiving threats from organized crime groups prior to his death.

On Wednesday, the prosecutor's office officially charged Correa-era minister Jose Serrano, Correa-aligned former lawmaker Ronny Aleaga and businessman Xavier Jordan as "intellectual authors" of the crime.

Serrano and Jordan are in the United States, while Aleaga fled to Venezuela last year to avoid a corruption investigation, prosecutors said. Ecuador is seeking their arrest.

Serrano is already in custody in Miami on an immigration matter, authorities said.

The Colombian assassin was killed at the scene of the crime, while six other Colombians arrested for the murder were themselves killed in Ecuador's notoriously violent prison system.

A.Motta--PC