The candidate for the Presidency of Ecuador Fernando Villavicencio has been killed after being shot by unknown persons at the exit of an electoral rally of his campaign in a central sector of Quito, as confirmed by the Ecuadorian Government. The Minister of the Interior, Juan Zapata, has confirmed the information and assured that the attack was perpetrated by hitmen They also hurt other people.

At the moment, the authorities have not provided official information or more details about the event that occurred at the end of the afternoon on the outskirts of a coliseum where Villavicencio had gathered supporters within the framework of the electoral campaign ahead of the elections on August 20. . Villavicencio, identified as a staunch critic of former President Rafael Correa (2007-2017), moved with police protection in the face of threats that he had received weeks before.

According to information from local media, special agents were investigating the possibility of placing a explosive device in the coliseum of an educational unit in which the candidate carried out a proselytizing action. Villavicencio’s murder occurred at a time when the country is experiencing an escalation of violence due to the action of criminal gangs.

Violence grows in the country

Multiple informations are reproduced daily assassinations, massacres, extortions, explosive attackss, among other crimes, that have sown terror among Ecuadorians who have suffered from this type of violent acts for a little over two years. Ecuador closed 2022 with the highest rate of violent deaths in its history, registering 25.32 per 100,000 inhabitants, the vast majority associated, according to the Government, to organized crime and drug trafficking, which has gained strength on the coast and has turned to ports into large springboards for cocaine reaching Europe and North America.

Precisely, the fight against crime has been one of the main promises of the candidates who aspire to succeed the conservative Guillermo Lasso as president in the extraordinary general elections called for next Sunday, August 20. In addition to Villavicencio, the environmentalist Yaku Pérez, the correísta Luisa González, the security expert Jan Topic, the former vice president Otto Sonnenholzner, the politician Daniel Hervas, the businessman Daniel Noboa and the independent Bolívar Armijos had registered for the presidential elections.

Ecuador’s president, the conservative Guillermo Lasso, expressed his dismay at the shooting death of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio and has vowed that the crime will not go unpunished. “Outraged and shocked by the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. My solidarity and condolences with his wife and his daughters. For his memory and for his fight, I assure you that this crime will not go unpunishedLasso wrote on social media.

In addition, it has reported that it has convened a meeting at the Carondelet presidential palace, in the historic center of Quito, of the so-called Security Cabinet made up of authorities from the Executive and other State functions.

The candidates, outraged

Candidates for the Presidency of Ecuador in the upcoming extraordinary general elections on August 20 expressed their dismay and indignation at the murder of their rival Fernando Villavicencio, who was shot as he was leaving an electoral rally in Quito. A few minutes after confirming the death of the journalist and former assemblyman, the other seven presidential candidates expressed their condolences and solidarity with the families, friends and loved ones of Villavicencio.

Former Vice President Otto Sonnenholzner expressed his “deepest condolences and deep solidarity” and wished “that God keep him in his glory.” “Our country has gotten out of hand“, assured Sonnenholzner in reference to the insecurity crisis that Ecuador is going through and that has practically monopolized the debate of the electoral campaign.

For her part, Luisa González, candidate of the Citizen Revolution, the party led by former President Rafael Correa (2007-2017), indicated that she received “with indignation, impotence and deep sadnessto the terrible news of the attack that caused the death of Fernando Villavicencio”.

“My supportive hug to all his family and co-idearies.This vile act will not go unpunished!“González said about Villavicencio, who had established himself as one of the main detractors of former President Correa with accusations of corruption involving his administration.