ALBAWABA - In a tragic incident earlier, Ecuador presidintial candidate Fernando Villavicencio was shot dead at a campaign rally, and later the attacker was shot in an exchange of fire and died of his wounds later.
Current Ecuadorian president Guillermo Lasso vowed that this horrific crime will not go unpunished. “organized crime has come a long way, but the full weight of the law will fall on them" he stated.
A member of Villavicencio's campaign team told local media the candidate was getting into a car when a man stepped forward and shot him in the head.
Local media stated that nine people suffered injuries, including a candidate for assembly and two police officers. The first round of the presidential election is scheduled to take place on 20 August.
Later on, the Ecuadorian Prosecutor’s Office said six people had been arrested during raids in Quito’s Conocoto and San Bartolo neighborhoods and that Villavicencio’s body had been transferred to a morgue for an autopsy, CNN reported.
Violence in Ecuador
The growing presence of cartels and drug smugglers in Ecuador has witnessed a rise in recent years, and presidintial candidates have made it the center of campaigns to fight off this crucial matter.
Last month, President Lasso declared states of emergency and night curfews in three provinces following several killings linked to organized crime. In addition, the country has lost control of its overcrowded jails, which are frequently dominated by criminal gangs.
According to Ecuadorian officials, security services have failed to tackle gangs inside jails, where inmates frequently assume control of branches and run criminal networks from behind bars. Hundreds of inmates have died as a result of deadly prison riots between rival gangs.
