A security camera captured the moment in which three unidentified persons placed a bomb in the window of a legislator’s office in a Legislative Assembly (Congress) building, around 1:30 am Wednesday.
The information was disclosed by the director of the Fuerza Publica (National Police), Daniel Calderón, who explained that the action took about 30 seconds, placing the explosive device and fleeing in a vehicle.
“We have some images of the Assembly monitoring it is possible to identify three people who place the (explosive) object in that window at that time and was detonated,” said the police chief.
The explosion caused damage to the office window of Partido Integración Nacional (PIN) legislator Zoila Rosa Volio.
No one was in the office at the time of the explosion, which caused only material damage.
Volio confirmed that she has received death threats on at least two occasions, but did not dare to link the bombing to the threats. Nor did she rule it out.
The legislator said she did not report the threats, she sees them as par for the course of political life.
“With this (bombing), I’m not going to be intimidated, I’m not afraid and I’ll keep fighting for what I believe. It is not for one to back down (…) I have received threats several weeks ago but I did not file the complaint.
“They were of a personal nature. One I will not say and in the other, they told me I had a big mouth. ‘You will see what awaits you'”, said the legislator.
Chief Calderon told the press a patrol unit was assigned to legislator Volio and measures have been taken to reinforce security in the Legislative Assembly due to the bombing and the situation experienced at Casa Presidencial (Government House) on Monday, when protestors tried to storm the front gate and rocks and a quarter stick of dynamite was launched at the windows.
The Director of the OIJ, Walter Espinoza, on Wednesday, said evidence of the bombing is being examined and witnesses have been interviewed to try to identify the people responsible.
“Following a preliminary analysis it was determined that the artifact is pyrotechnic material known as a ‘bombeta’ (…) the device is of a commercial nature and had its explosive capacity boosted with sugar and some accelerating substance,” said Espinoza.
