Fernando Villavicencio, candidate for the presidency of Ecuador, dies in an attack after being shot by hitmen

Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio died this Wednesday after receiving three shots to the head in an attack by a group of hitmen during the end of an electoral rally in Quito, the country's capital, ahead of the elections on August 20 .

Villavicencio, a former trade unionist and candidate for the Construye Movement, was taken to a nearby clinic where his death was confirmed.

According to witnesses, the presidential candidate was shot by a revolver used by “a short man” from the opposite window of the vehicle in which he was leaving the electoral act.

The shooting, which occurred at 6:20 p.m. local time, has left at least eight injured, of whom seven have had to be taken to hospital.

Villavicencio rally

The wounded are part of those attending the rally that Villavicencio held in a coliseum in a crowded and central area of Quito, where as he left an unknown person opened fire on the candidate to occupy the presidential seat of Ecuador in the extraordinary general elections called for the Next Sunday August 20.

Among the injured is a candidate for assembly and two police officers, said the Prosecutor's Office, which, together with the Police, is raising evidence at the scene of the crime and at the medical center to which the victims were taken.

The other person who died as the alleged perpetrator of the attack was badly injured after exchanging shots with the security personnel present at the scene.. According to the Prosecutor's Office, the suspect was first transferred to a Quito court after being apprehended and from there he was apparently referred to a medical center where a Fire Department ambulance certified his death.

In the middle of the electoral campaign

The assassination of Fernando Villavicencio has caused a huge commotion in Ecuador, in the midst of an electoral campaign marked by the security crisis that the country is experiencing, plagued by delinquency and organized crime, mostly linked to drug trafficking.

Villavicencio, who was running in the elections for the Construye movement, had denounced death threats against him weeks ago and, like the rest of the presidential candidates, had been given police protection.

The journalist and former assemblyman, one of the main detractors of former President Rafael Correa (2007-2017), was one of the eight presidential candidates registered for these extraordinary general elections, who have been dismayed after the crime and several of them have announced that they are suspending their electoral campaigns at the same time that they have invoked a pact against insecurity.

Some of Villavicencio's rivals in the presidential race announced the suspension of their respective campaigns and called for a pact and unity in the face of the crisis of insecurity and violence that the country is going through.

State of exception in Ecuador

Ecuador has declared a state of emergency for 60 days, although it maintains the presidential elections on August 20, as reported by the country's president, the conservative Guillermo Lasso. The president explained that in the confrontation between the policemen who were escorting Fernando Villavicencio and the assassins, one of the assailants died from his injuries, after having been captured.

“The assassins, to cover their escape, threw a grenade that did not detonate in the street and was later destroyed through a controlled detonation,” said the head of state.. “The investigations continue and we will apply all the rigor of the law so that those responsible for materials and intellectuals pay with the maximum penalty,” he added.. Six people were arrested overnight for alleged involvement in the murder.

“Organized crime has come a long way, but the full weight of the law is going to fall on them,” added Lasso.