Ecuador: anti-corruption candidate killed during a political demonstration two weeks before the elections
An Ecuadorian presidential candidate known for speaking out against cartels and corruption was killed Wednesday during a political rally in the capital, amid a surprising wave of gang-led violence in the South American country.
President Guillermo Lasso confirmed the assassination of Fernando Villavicencio and suggested that organized crime was behind his killing, less than two weeks before presidential elections on August 20.
“I assure you this crime will not go unpunished,” Lasso said in a statement. "Organized crime has gone too far, but they will feel the full weight of the law."
Ecuador's attorney general's office said a suspect died in custody from injuries sustained in a gunfight after the killing, and police arrested six suspects following raids in Quito.
Prior to the shooting, Villavicencio said he received multiple death threats, including from affiliates of Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel, one of several international organized crime groups now operating in Ecuador. He said his campaign posed a threat to such groups.
“Here I am showing my face. I am not afraid of them,” Villavicencio said in a statement, naming detained crime boss José Adolfo Macías by his alias “Fito”.
Villavicencio was one of eight candidates, though not the favourite. The 59-year-old politician was the candidate of the Build Ecuador movement. Many placed hopes in his election or in his descent into politics to stop the excessive power of criminal gangs in the country.
After various drug cartels began using the country's ports for their traffic, Ecuador was hit by a wave of violence not seen in many years. The sounds of gunfire ring out across many major cities as rival gangs battle for control, and the gangs have recruited children. Just last month, the mayor of the port city of Manta was shot and killed. On July 26, Lasso declared a state of emergency covering two provinces and the country's prison system in an attempt to stem the violence.
Former vice president and candidate Otto Sonnenholzner said at a press conference following the assassination on Wednesday: “We are dying, drowning in a sea of tears and we don't deserve to live like this. We ask you to do something."
Videos of the demonstration on social media appear to show Villavicencio walking out of the event surrounded by guards. The video then shows the candidate getting into a white pickup truck before gunshots are heard, followed by yelling and commotion around the truck.
ALERT – The candidat à la présidence de l'Équateur, Fernando Villavicencio, a été assassiné en pleine rue il ya quelques minutes. (témoins) pic.twitter.com/OTBGy0jeVV
— AlertesInfos (@AlertesInfos) August 10, 2023
Zuquilanda said the candidate had received at least three death threats prior to the shooting, which he had reported to authorities, resulting in his detention. He called on international authorities to take action against the violence, attributing it to the increase in violence and drug trafficking.
“The Ecuadorian people are crying and Ecuador is mortally wounded,” he said. "Politics cannot lead to the death of any member of society."
Villavicencio was one of the country's most critical voices against corruption, especially during the 2007-2017 government of President Rafael Correa.
He was also an independent journalist who investigated corruption in previous governments, later entering politics as an anti-graft activist. His election would lead to an ongoing war against international drug cartels.
Villavicencio filed numerous court complaints against high-ranking members of the Correa government, including against the former president himself. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison for libel for his criticism of Correa and fled to Ecuador's indigenous territory, later receiving asylum in neighboring Peru. So he was back for candidates
The current president Lasso, of the liberal moderate right, resigned two years after the elections due to contrast with the left-wing parliamentary majority and is not re-presenting himself as a candidate, but this murder calls all the political parties to greater unity in the fight against the organized crime.
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The article Ecuador: anti-corruption candidate killed during a political demonstration two weeks before the elections comes from Scenari Economici .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/ecuador-candidato-anti-corruzione-ucciso-durante-una-manifestazione-politica-a-due-settimane-dalle-elezioni/ on Thu, 10 Aug 2023 06:41:09 +0000.