Fernando Villavicencio: Ecuador Presidential Candidate Shot Dead At Campaign Rally 10 Days To Elections

• Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, a vocal critic of corruption and organised crime, was killed at a campaign event
• Outgoing Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso declared a countrywide state of emergency for 60 days and vowed to bring the culprits to book
• The attorney general’s office said it had arrested six people so far in connection with the crime after raids conducted in the capital by police

Quito - A candidate in the upcoming Ecuadorian presidential election, Fernando Villavicencio, has been assassinated at a campaign event in the capital.

The Wednesday, August 9 killing is the latest incident in the country that is witnessing an escalation of violence and crime.

Villavicencio was shot and killed while leaving a school located north of Quito after a campaign rally.

CNN reported that the slain politician had been vocal about corruption in various government departments, which he attributed to drug trafficking.

He had stated that the country had been turned into a 'narco-state', promising to lead the war against the political mafia.

Villavicencio's death comes ahead of a highly contested presidential election in the Andean nation.

A 60-day state of emergency declared in Ecuador

In a statement broadcast on Youtube, outgoing Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso declared a countrywide state of emergency for 60.

Lasso said the armed forces had been mobilised to ensure order and tranquillity ahead of elections set for Sunday, August 20.

The president added that the fight against organised crime in the country had come a long way, and those involved would face the law.

The attorney general’s office said a suspect arrested over the crime died of injuries sustained in a shootout while in custody.

The violence injured nine other people, including a candidate for the legislature and two police officers.

Ecuador turning into drug trade hub

In 2022, TUKO.co.ke reported Ecuador had become a hub for the global drug trade, flooding the world with Colombian cocaine while bloodshed rages between a complex tapestry of local gangs backed by Mexican and European mafia.

"The cocaine that leaves Ecuador's ports goes to the whole world, mainly the United States and Europe, but also Asia and Australia," said Chris Dalby, an investigator with organised crime think tank Insight Crime.

Ecuador is not known to have large plantations of drug crops, laboratories for refining cocaine, or major drug cartels.

Instead, it has become a staging ground for foreign mafia, upping the stakes for local gangs brutally killing each other as they jockey for valuable alliances and control of drug routes.

In September 2022, the United States listed Ecuador among the world's top 22 drug-producing or transit countries.