Writing.- The candidate for the Presidency of Ecuador Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated this Wednesday 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, confirmed the information and assured that the attack was perpetrated by hitmen who also injured 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), was mobilizing with police protection in the face of threats he had received weeks before.
According to information from local media, special agents were investigating the possibility of placing an explosive device in the coliseum of an educational unit in which the candidate was proselytizing.
Villavicencio’s murder occurred at a time when the country is experiencing an escalation of violence due to the action of criminal gangs.
Multiple reports of murders, massacres, extortions, attacks with explosives, among other crimes, are reproduced daily, which 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.
