An anti-corruption candidate for the presidency of Ecuador was assassinated at a campaign event, according to police.
President Guillermo Lasso confirmed that Fernando Villavicencio, 59, the leader of the Movimiento Construye Party, was murdered by gunmen, one of whom was found dead shortly after. Villavicencio leaves behind a widow and five children. Lasso blamed the attack on organized crime, and promised a crackdown, the Associated Press reported.
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“I assure you that this crime will not go unpunished,” the president said in a statement. “Organized crime has gone too far, but they will feel the full weight of the law.”
General Manuel Iñiguez, a deputy commander of the Ecuadoran national police, said that Villavicencio was killed by gunfire shortly after entering a truck outside a rally at a high school, the Washington Post reported. He added that the hitmen also fired a grenade at the truck, though it failed to detonate.
Villavicencio had announced just a week before that he had been threatened by the leader of a gang, according to the BBC. Though Ecuador has historically been mostly peaceful by the region’s standards, crime has exploded over the past year due to a rise in drug trafficking. Crime was one of the issues tackled by Villavicencio’s campaign.
Patricio Zuquilanda, Villavicencio’s campaign adviser, told the Associated Press that the campaign had received a number of death threats, which were reported to the authorities, and which led to at least one arrest.
“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 trailing behind two other candidates but had been growing in support ahead of the first round of elections on Aug. 20. The other candidates expressed their support and outrage over the killing.
Leading candidate Luisa González of the Citizen Revolution Party expressed solidarity with Villavicencio, declaring, “When they touch one, they touch all of us … This vile act will not go unpunished.”
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“We are dying, drowning in a sea of tears, and we do not deserve to live like this. We demand that you do something,” former Vice President and current candidate Otto Sonnenholzner said.
“May God keep him in his glory,” he added. “Our country has gotten out of hand.”
