Ecuador presidential candidate assassinated at campaign event

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

Quito: An Ecuadorian presidential candidate known for speaking up against corruption has been shot and killed at a political rally in the capital amid a wave of startling violence in the South American country.

Fernando Villavicencio, a vocal critic of corruption and organised crime, was killed at a campaign event on Wednesday (Thursday AEST), authorities said, amid an upsurge in violence in the Andean nation blamed on drug traffickers.

Ecuadorean presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio speaks during a campaign rally in Quito, Ecuador.Credit: Reuters

Local media reported some 30 shots had been fired at the location in the north of the capital, Quito. Video footage posted on social media showed Villavicencio getting into a car after the event, before the sound of apparent gunfire and screaming.

Ecuador’s police and Interior Ministry did not respond to repeated requests for comment about the details of the killing, but outgoing President Guillermo Lasso confirmed police safely detonated a grenade left behind by the killers.

“This is a political crime, which has the character of terrorism, and we do not doubt that this murder is an attempt to sabotage the electoral process,” Lasso said in a video statement past midnight local time, after meeting with security and electoral officials.

Supporters of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio run for cover after he was shot to death while at a campaign rally outside a school in Quito, Ecuador.Credit: AP

Lasso declared three days of mourning and a national state of emergency, saying the military would mobilise to guarantee security. Voting for a new president would go ahead as planned on August 20, he added.

The Attorney-General’s office said one suspect in the crime later died of injuries sustained in a shoot-out. The violence injured nine other people, including a candidate for the legislature and two police officers.

The office later said it had arrested six people so far in connection with the crime during raids in Quito.

Lasso’s government has blamed rising violence on the streets and in prisons on criminal infighting to control trafficking routes used by Mexican cartels, the Albanian mafia and others to move drugs.

Security concerns, along with employment and migration, are major voter concerns in presidential contest.

Police undertake a controlled explosion of a device left outside the rally attended by presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in Quito.Credit: Reuters

Villavicencio, 59, had pledged to combat corruption and reduce tax evasion if elected. According to opinion polls, his support was at 7.5 per cent, ranking him fifth out of eight candidates.

Villavicencio’s party Movimiento Construye (Build Ecuador Movement) said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that armed men attacked its Quito offices in a separate incident. The party said discussions had been held recently about whether to suspend campaigning due to political violence, including the July murder of the mayor of Manta.

Villavicencio opposed the suspension, it said, saying “keeping silent and hiding in moments when criminals assassin citizens and authorities is an act of cowardice”.

The candidate, a former unionist, had on Tuesday made a report to the Attorney-General’s office about an oil business, but no further details of his report were made public.

Villavicencio, from the Andean province of Chimborazo, was a former union member at state oil company Petroecuador and later a journalist who denounced alleged millions in oil contract losses.

Late night marches decrying the murder took place in several cities, including Villavicencio’s hometown of Alausi.

Villavicencio was an outspoken critic of former president Rafael Correa and was sentenced to 18 months in prison for defamation over statements made against him.

Fernando Villavicencio was one of the country’s most critical voices against corruption.Credit: Reuters

He fled to Indigenous territory within Ecuador and later was given asylum in Peru.

“Ecuador has become a failed state,” Correa, who now lives in Belgium, said on X. “Hopefully those who try to sow more hate with this new tragedy will understand that will only continue to destroy us.”

As a legislator, Villavicencio was criticised by opposition politicians for obstructing an impeachment process this year against Lasso, which lead the latter to call the early elections.

Other candidates in the race reacted with horror to the killing.

Alexandra Villavicencio, sister of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, arrives to the hospital that he was taken after being shot.Credit: AP

“This makes us all mourn, my solidarity to all his family and the people who follow his ideals. This vile act will not go unpunished!,” presidential candidate Luisa Gonzalez, who is running for Correa’s party, said on X.

Indigenous candidate Yaku Perez said he had decided to suspend his presidential campaign and demanded the violence stop in a video posted after the incident.

Perez later said he was in contact with other candidates, in pursuit of a “pact for security”.

“To the government; we don’t want words… Act. We are dying,” candidate Otto Sonnenholzner told a press conference. “Today more than ever, the need to act with a strong hand against crime is reiterated. May God have him in his glory,” presidential hopeful Jan Topic said on X, before also suspending his campaign.

Villavicencio was married and is survived by five children.

“I assure you that this crime will not go unpunished,” Lasso said in a statement. “Organised crime has gone too far, but they will feel the full weight of the law.”

Reuters

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