QUITO: The gang-driven violence afflicting Ecuador over the last two years reached an unprecedented level when a presidential candidate, known for speaking up against drug cartels and corruption, was shot dead at a political rally in the country’s capital.
The assassination of Fernando Villavicencio in Quito happened on Wednesday, less than two weeks before a special presidential election. He was not a frontrunner, but his killing, which President Guillermo Lasso suggested, could be linked to organised crime.
Lasso declared three days of national mourning and a state of emergency.
In his final speech before he was killed, Villavicencio, 59, promised a roaring crowd that he would root out corruption and lock up the country’s “thieves.”