Ecuador presidential candidate assassinated

Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was killed by gunmen yesterday in Quito, the minister of interior said, less than two weeks before the 20 August election.

Villavicencio was leaving a rally in his vehicle when he was shot by three hired gunmen, who tried to flee by motorcycle, according to the ministry. Two of the suspects were captured while the third was injured by Villavicencio's bodyguards and died a few hours later.

Villavicencio, 59, was the candidate for the Movimiento Construye party, a center-right political movement. At the time of his death he was running second in the polls to Luisa Gonzalez, the candidate of former president Rafael Correa's Revolucion Ciudadana party. The two were expected to face off in a second round of voting in October.

Villavicencio's running mate, Andrea Gonzalez, may replace him as the Movimiento Construye's presidential candidate.

At least three of the remaining seven presidential candidates suspended their campaigns following Villavicencio's murder and said they are willing to sign a multi-party agreement against violence.

President Guillermo Lasso declared three days of national mourning and a 60-day state of emergency. This move will limit some individual freedoms, giving the government the power to prevent gatherings and granting the army and police to force entry into households or buildings without courts orders.

Union, journalism background

Villavicencio was well-known in the energy sector, working as a union leader for state-owned oil and gas company Petroecuador in the early 2000s. He later worked for several online investigative journalism organizations, revealing corruption in Correa's government in 2007-2017. Villavicencio published two books that alleged oil-export loan deals signed with Chinese oil companies during Correa's administration harmed Ecuador's finances.

As a congressman from 2021 until new elections were called earlier this year, Villavicencio promoted renewable energy, rigorous maintenance requirements for power generation plants, oil service firm audits, monitoring of Petroecuador's export contracts and fighting against illegal mining.

In his campaign for president he continuously attacked Ecuador's main drug cartels and denounced their links with the army, the national police and the judicial system. He offered to create a maximum-security prison for drug lords and organized crime leaders.

Villavicencio is the first presidential candidate assassinated since Ecuador returned to democracy in 1979, after seven years of military dictatorships.

By Alberto Araujo