The tragedy of Ecuadorian presidential candidate assassination

The murder caused outrage

According to CNN, Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio - a 59-year-old former journalist and congressman - was murdered after leaving a campaign rally at a school in the capital Quito on August 10.

Mr. Fernando Villavicencio at a campaign event. Photo: Reuters

Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso expressed his outrage at the incident and vowed that the killers would be punished. “Organized crime has gone too far, but the full weight of the law will fall on them,” he said, adding that Ecuador would hold three days of national mourning in memory of Mr Villavicencio.

The Ecuadorian Attorney General's office said in a statement that the gunman suspected of killing Mr Villavicencio died in police custody after a shootout with security personnel.

The Ecuadorian Prosecutor's Office later confirmed that six people were arrested in raids in the Conocoto and San Bartolo neighborhoods of the capital Quito and that the body of Fernando Villavicencio had been transferred to a morgue for an autopsy.

The moment Mr Villavicencio was shot has gone viral on social media in Ecuador. A video shows people falling to the ground as Mr Villavicencio gets into a car and a series of gunshots ring out.

Another video posted by Villavicencio’s friend, journalist Christian Zurita, shows people screaming and huddled on the school floor. “They killed my friend,” Zurita wrote on X shortly after posting the video.

A thorn in the eyes of many people

As a journalist, Villavicencio has led numerous investigations and written books on government corruption, particularly under former President Rafael Correa, who was convicted in absentia in 2020 on corruption charges.

Villavicencio was later elected to the Ecuadorian Congress and headed the oversight commission, where he investigated numerous bribery cases. In a recent speech about Ecuador’s economy, Mr. Villavicencio said: “We have a criminal economy financed by drug trafficking, illegal mining and… bribes from corruption in the public sector.”

Video shows people panicking and running for cover as the suspect opens fire and kills Mr. Villavicencio. Photo: WSJ

Villavicencio is also considered a thorn in the side of criminals because of his harsh criticism of the drug gangs that are raging and causing bloodshed across Ecuador. Perhaps because of that, he has made many enemies for himself.

The 59-year-old politician recently said he had received death threats from a local gang called the Choneros. Security experts believe the Choneros, which has ties to Mexico’s notorious Sinaloa drug cartel, act as “contractors” to ensure cocaine shipments from Colombia pass through Ecuador before heading north to the United States.

“This confirms that our proposed crackdown will have a serious impact on these criminal structures,” Mr. Villavicencio said, referring to recent death threats against him. “But I am not afraid.”

The election went ahead as scheduled.

Many sources said that the death of Mr. Villavicencio, one of the eight candidates running for election, could affect the presidential election process in this South American country, scheduled to take place on August 20 this year.

Ecuadorians are preparing to vote for a new president after incumbent President Guillermo Lasso called a new election to avoid being impeached by Congress over corruption allegations.

In May, the Ecuadorian National Assembly began impeachment hearings against President Lasso. Although Lasso denied all charges during his testimony, lawmakers did not seem convinced.

As a congressman, Mr. Villavicencio led several corruption investigations in Ecuador and fought hard against drug gangs. Photo: The Avocate

According to CNN, after the above hearing, Ecuador's National Assembly will have one final vote to determine whether to remove Mr. Lasso from office or not. Therefore, this leader has invoked a constitutional provision to dissolve the National Assembly and call for an early general election, including a new president and parliament.

Political analysts say Villavicencio is one of the candidates with a good chance of finishing second in the first round of Ecuador’s presidential election. Polls show that no one is likely to win enough votes to win the presidency in the first round. That scenario would require a runoff between the top two presidential candidates.

Now, Mr. Villavicencio's death has raised speculation that the presidential election may be delayed. But speaking to CNN, the president of Ecuador's electoral council, Diana Atamaint, said the election will proceed as planned.

The peaceful days are gone

Once one of the safest countries in Latin America, Ecuador has become one of the most dangerous. Homicides have quadrupled since 2019, hitting a record 4,800 last year, according to Ecuador’s Interior Ministry, and fueled a wave of migration, mainly to the United States. Violence has increased dramatically since 2020, as gangs vie for control of cocaine-smuggling routes to seaports.

The mafia has not hesitated to shoot prosecutors and police, and hang the bodies of victims from bridges to threaten others. Ecuadorian law enforcement officials say violence in the country has exploded since the powerful leader of the Choneros cartel was killed in December 2020, causing the disintegration of the most powerful gang.

Smaller gangs that were once part of Choneros—such as the Wolves, the Chone Killers, and Los Tiguerones—began killing each other in a bid for territory and influence in Ecuador’s criminal world. This led to violence that spread to cities and turned the country into one of the world’s highest rates of gun violence.

Quang Anh

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/bi-kich-ung-vien-tong-thong-ecuador-bi-am-sat-post259946.html