August 10th 2023.
Ecuador is in mourning after the tragic death of presidential candidate, Fernando Villavicencio. He was assassinated at a campaign rally in the northern city of Quito on Wednesday.
Villavicencio was known for speaking up against cartels and corruption, and had recently promised a roaring crowd that he would root out corruption and lock up the country’s ‘thieves’.
Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso confirmed the assassination and suggested organised crime was behind the slaying, less than two weeks before the Aug. 20 presidential election. He assured the public that the crime would not go unpunished, and that organized crime would feel the full weight of the law.
The suspect was shot by security forces in a firefight following the killing and later died in hospital, the country’s attorney generl confirmed on socal media.
Ida Paez, a supporter of Villavicencio’s campaign, said that it had given her hope that the country could overcome the gangs. At the rally, she said, ‘We were happy. Fernando even danced. His last words were, if someone messes with the people, he is messing with my family.’
Villavicencio was one of the country’s most critical voices against corruption, especially during the 2007-2017 government of President Rafael Correa. He had filed many judicial complaints against high ranking members of the Correa government, including against the ex-president himself.
Villavicencio was also an independent journalist who investigated corruption in previous governments, later entering politics an an anti-graft campaigner. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison for defamation his criticisms of Correa, and fled to indigenous territory in Ecuador, later receiving asylum in neighboring Peru.
The killing was met with an outcry by other candidates who demanded action, with presidential frontrunner Luisa González of the Citizen Revolution party saying ‘when they touch one of us, they touch all of us.’ Villavicencio was married and is survived by five children.
The death of Villavicencio comes at a time when Ecuador is reeling from its worst wave of violence in decades, as drug traffickers have seized control of the south american country’s coastal ports. Gang warfare is on the rise, and last month the mayor of the port city of Manta was shot and killed, prompting a state of emergency in an attempt to quell the violence.
Former vice president and candidate Otto Sonnenholzner said in a news conference following Wednesday’s killing, “We are dying, drowning in a sea of tears and we do not deserve to live like this. We demand that you do something.”
Edison Romo, a former military intelligence colonel, said the complaints made Villavicencio “a threat to international criminal organizations.” Authorities said that at least nine others were injured, including officers and a congressional candidate, in what they described as a ‘terrorist act.’
The death of Villavicencio is a tragedy, and a reminder of the dangers of speaking out against corruption and criminal organizations. Ecuador’s president has vowed that the crime will not go unpunished, and hopefully justice will eventually be served.
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