Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio assassinated
Anti-corruption figure killed days before election amid sharp rise in violent and organised crime
Dan Collyns in Lima and Carla Valdiviezo in Quito
Thu 10 Aug 2023 07.39 BST
The Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio has been shot dead as he left a campaign event in Quito, days before an election where the central issue is rising violence and crime.
Videos on social media show Villavicencio, a former journalist who had collaborated with the Guardian and was outspoken about alleged links between organised crime and politics, surrounded by supporters and being escorted by security guards to a waiting vehicle when gunshots ring out as people start to scream and take cover.
In a televised address made after midnight, the country’s president, Guillermo Lasso, said the elections would continue as planned, though under a two-month state of emergency in which soldiers would guard polling stations.
Flanked by cabinet members and electoral authorities, he said: “We agree in the face of the loss of a patriot and a fighter, elections should not be suspended; on the contrary, they should be held and democracy should be strengthened.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... cio-killed 