Ecuadorian journalist and presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, 59, was assassinated on Wednesday, President Guillermo Lasso reported, adding that “organized crime has gone a long way.” The newspaper El Universo pointed out that Villavicencio was assassinated “in the hit-man style and with three shots to the head.”
Villavicencio, from the Construye centro movement, was shot dead as he was leaving an event in northern Quito after leading a campaign rally.
“Outraged and shocked by the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. My solidarity and condolences with his wife and daughters,” Lasso said. through the social network X, formerly Twitter.
The president added that “for his memory and for his fight, I assure you that this crime will not go unpunished” and that “organized crime has come a long way, but the full weight of the law will fall on them.”
Villavicencio was one of eight presidential candidates for the early general elections to be held on August 20.
This journalist and former member of the National Assembly dissolved in May by Lasso, appeared second in the intention to vote with 13.2%, behind the lawyer Luisa González (26.6%) related to the former socialist president Rafael Correa (2007-2017). , according to the most recent Cedatos survey.
Lasso summoned the Security Cabinet to the presidential headquarters, as well as the heads of state organizations such as the highest National Court of Justice to “deal with this fact that has dismayed the country.”
The rejection of the other candidates
The candidates for the Presidency of Ecuador in the next extraordinary general elections on August 20 expressed their dismay and indignation at the assassination of their rival Fernando Villavicencio.
A few minutes after the death was confirmed, the other seven presidential candidates expressed their condolences and solidarity with the loved ones of the murdered man. Former Vice President Otto Sonnenholzner expressed his “deepest condolences and deep solidarity” and wished “that God keep him in his glory.”
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 sadness the terrible news of the attack that caused the death of Fernando Villavicencio.” “My solidarity hug to all his family and co-ideators. This vile act will not go unpunished!” González said of Villavicencio, who had established himself as one of the main detractors of former President Correa with accusations of corruption involving his administration .
Yaku Pérez, who is also a leftist and environmentalist candidate, was “appalled by the tragic and reprehensible murder of Fernando Villavicencio.” “My deepest condolences to his family and loved ones. This act will not go unpunished, Ecuador does not deserve one more death, it is time to unite and recover peace,” Pérez said.
The candidate, who like other applicants had police protection, had denounced death threats against him in previous days. The murder of Villavicencio leaves an electoral campaign stained with more blood where the security crisis practically dominated the political debate and the proposals of the candidates.
In previous weeks, the mayor of Manta, Agustín Intriago, and a candidate for assembly in the northern province of Esmeraldas were also murdered in a similar way.
Crescendo violence
Ecuador has been experiencing the worst security crisis and violence from organized crime in its history for just over two years, which led it to close 2022 with the highest rate of violent deaths in its history, registering 25.32 per 100,000 inhabitants. The vast majority of these intentional homicides are associated, according to the Government, to organized crime and drug trafficking, which has gained strength on the coast and has turned Ecuadorian ports into large springboards for cocaine that reaches Europe and North America.
