Ecuador is in a 60-day state of emergency after presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated at a political rally in Quito, the nation’s capital.
Video shows Villavicencio was killed as he entered his vehicle by an assassin firing several shots at close range. Villavicencio was leaving a rally at a high school.
A member of Villavicencio’s campaign, Carlos Figueroa, told The New York Times, “When he stepped outside the door, he was met with gunfire.”
“There was nothing to be done because they were shots to the head,” he added.
A suspected assassin was killed in the commotion. Nine other people, including two police officers and a political candidate for the nation’s legislative house, were also shot, according to the NYT.
Villavicencio, a former journalist, activist, and legislator, ran as an opposition candidate to the county’s leftist movement, correÃsmo. The movement is named after former President Rafael Correa, who is still massively influential in the country’s political sphere.
Villavicencio had been critical of alleged corruption in the Correa government, which led to death threats against him, according to the NYT.
Correa left office in 2017 after 10 years. Louisa González, a candidate backed by Correa, was leading in the polls before the assassination, per the NYT.
Ecuador has been racked by violence in recent years, as an improved standard of living spurred by an oil boom has given way to increasing drug gang crime, with homicide rates at record levels, per the NYT.
The first round of the presidential elections is currently set for August 20, with a second round in October if no candidate gets a majority of votes, per the NYT. The news outlet reported that the election will proceed as scheduled due to constitutional and legal obligations.
That was also the view of President Guillermo Lasso, whose dissolving of the opposition-led National Assembly to stop an impending impeachment vote prompted the fresh elections.
“This was a political crime, terrorism,” he said. “And there is no doubt that this assassination is an attempt to sabotage the electoral process. It is no coincidence this happened days before the first round of voting.”
In a video posted on Twitter — allegedly showing a narco gang bearing rifles and firearms — a seated and masked spokesperson took credit for the Villavicencio assassination.
Another video purports to show one of the alleged assassins being detained at the rally.
