On Wednesday afternoon, presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was attacked by assassins as he left a political rally in a Colosseum in Quito and minutes later his death was confirmed from the injuries sustained.

Fernando Villavicencio, a resident of Alausí (Chimborazo), at the age of 59, ran to the government palace, sheltered by the movement Building list 25. He received a degree in social communication from the University of Colombia and was married to Verónica Sarauz, with whom he had three children.

Due to the crime of Fernando Villavicencio, the Quito Council suspends events scheduled for August 10 and insists on the omission of mass events organized by entities

In the 90s he was part of the Pachakutik (PK) movement and he also served as a union leader at Petroecuador, where he was also a communications official. He was the founder of the Investigative Journalism portal.

During the government of Rafael Correa He was considered one of his main opponents.

It was precisely during that government that he had to go into hiding in various places because of complaints against him. In April 2017, Villavicencio applied for political asylum from the Peruvian government, then led by Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.

A preventive detention order had been issued for violating the personal and family privacy of senior officials such as Attorney General Diego García and President Rafael Correa. He had also done it against Cléver Jiménez.

A flurry of shots, confusion and despair: the tragic minutes that ended the life of Fernando Villavicencio

“We as a family want to protect Fernando’s life, because he recently launched his book (El feriado oilro) and as a result of this launch, I personally received many death threats against my husband, even against my children. All these threats and motivations that the government of Ecuador has made against Fernando have led us to seek asylum,” explained his wife Verónica Sarauz at the time.

The Press and Freedom Institute (IPYS) expressed its support for Villavicencio, pointing out that since 2010 there had been indications of possible harassment against the activist.

Villavicencio returned to Ecuador after six months and was given an electronic device.