A leading presidential contender from Ecuador was fatally shot as he exited a rally in Quito on Wednesday. This incident led President Guillermo Lasso to announce a state of emergency, pointing to organized crime as the culprits behind the assassination.
The 59-year-old contender, Fernando Villavicencio, recognized for challenging a corrupt socialist regime, had earlier mentioned facing threats. Villavicencio was the second most popular candidate in the presidential race, according to recent opinion polls.
Security personnel took down one alleged assailant, and police safely handled an explosive found nearby, according to the chief investigator, Alain Luna.
Carlos Figueroa, present with Villavicencio at the time, told local media that around 30 shots were fired by the attackers.
“They ambushed him outside” the sports center, Figueroa said. “Some (of those present) even thought they were fireworks.” The country’s main newspaper, El Universo, reported that Villavicencio was assassinated “hitman-style and with three shots to the head.”
Nevertheless, Lasso assured that the scheduled general elections for August 20 would go ahead as planned.
“Outraged and shocked by the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio,” the president said in a statement on social media, blaming the killing on “organized crime.”
“For his memory and for his fight, I assure you that this crime will not go unpunished.”
The president also declared three days of national mourning “to honor the memory of a patriot, of Fernando Villavicencio Valencia.”
“The Armed Forces as of this moment are mobilized throughout the national territory to guarantee the security of citizens, the tranquility of the country and the free and democratic elections of August 20,” Lasso said in a YouTube address.
“This is a political crime that acquires a terrorist character and we do not doubt that this murder is an attempt to sabotage the electoral process,” he added.
Lasso has stated he will not seek re-election.
President of the National Electoral Council Diana Atamaint said “the date of the elections scheduled for August 20 remain unalterable.”
Questions are being raised about the identity of the perpetrators behind the assassination. The New York Times provided background on Villavicencio following his untimely death.
“Union leader. Muckraking journalist. Legislator. Presidential candidate,” the Times noted. “And now, assassin’s victim. Fernando Villavicencio, who was gunned down at a rally on Wednesday, had a long history in Ecuadorean public affairs, largely as an antagonist to those in power. He rose to prominence as a union leader at the state oil company, Petroecuador, and later played a crucial role in exposing a corruption scandal involving the administration of former President Rafael Correa.”
“Mr. Correa, a socialist, was Ecuador’s longest-serving democratically elected president, leading the nation for a decade, through 2017,” the Times continued. “And Mr. Villavicencio was ‘always contesting the power’ of Mr. Correa, according to Caroline Ávila, an Ecuadorean political analyst.”
Critically, Villavicencio had been a muckracking journalist who had turned over sensitive information to Wikileaks, making powerful enemies from around the globe.
“As a journalist, Mr. Villavicencio obtained documents about a government surveillance program that he sent to WikiLeaks but eventually published himself,” the Times said. “Some of his work led to death threats and charges that were widely criticized as politically motivated. He fled to Peru in 2017 to seek political asylum.”
Villavicencio journalism exposed the socialist regime’s contracting of an Italian surveillance firm to conduct a program targeting journalists and political opponents. This surveillance program included conducting espionage on Julian Assange during his embassy asylum.
The U.S. ambassador to Ecuador, Michael Patrick, condemned the killing of Villavicencio.
“I am deeply shocked to learn of the assassination of Fernando Villavicencio, presidential candidate and fighter against the corrupt and narco-criminals who have done so much damage to Ecuador. On behalf of the people and the Government of the United States of America, I express my deepest condolences to his family and to the people of Ecuador. The US Government strongly condemns this attack and offers urgent investigative assistance.”
However, there are some Ecuadorian political observers who believe that Correa is at least circumstantially responsible.
“This is solely responsible for the death of Villavicencio our brave warrior,” one supporter said. “Correa son of a [expletives deleted] and your criminal gang drug dealers are responsible for Ecuador and the world is in mourning. [Expletive deleted] they will pay.”
After the assassination, Correa, the former president, expressed his sentiments on the killing.
“They have assassinated Fernando Villavicencio,” Correa wrote. “Ecuador has become a failed state.”
“My solidarity with his family and with all the families of the victims of violence,” he added.
But many critics are not convinced that Correa is blameless in the killing. Emmanuel Rincón, a journalist who covers Latin American affairs, expressed his skepticism of the former president’s condemnation of the attack.
“Your threat was fulfilled, hypocrite [Correa]!” he posted on X.
The suspect believed to have carried out the crime was killed in a police shootout following the assassination.
If you play with the Devil you’re gonna get burned.
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Murder is the socialist’s most often used tool.
jews can never win in a fair competition so they simply eliminate all competition.
Funny just how accurately similar & related the 2 statements above are isn’t it?