ECUADORIAN presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio has been shot dead at a political rally in Quito just a few weeks before election day.
Villavicencio was a member of Ecuador’s National Assembly before its dissolution in May and was one of the leading candidates in the first round of voting to succeed President Guillermo Lasso.
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He was shot multiple times as he left the rally at a high school in northern Quito, according to General Manuel Iñiguez of the Ecuadorian national police.
He was rushed to a nearby clinic, where he was pronounced dead at the age of 59.
Iñiguez said a police officer was also injured in the attack.
The gunmen launched a grenade toward Villavicencio’s group, however, it didn’t explode.
Villavicencio’s death comes as the country is dealing with a wave of violent crimes, including drug trafficking and murders.
“I assure you this crime will not go unpunished,” President Lasso wrote in a statement. “Organized crime has gone too far but they will feel the full weight of the law.”
HAUNTING VIDEO
Video posted on social media appears to show Villavicencio walking out of the event with his guards and entering a white truck before gunfire erupts.
Dozens of gunshots were heard as the terrified crowd was seen running away from the sound.
Villavicencio was a vocal critic of corruption, especially during the tenure of former President Rafael Correa from 2007 to 2017.
Villavicencio’s campaign adviser, Patricio Zuquilanda, told the Associated Press that his client had received several death threats before the shooting and reported them to the authorities.
“The Ecuadorian people are crying and Ecuador is mortally wounded,” he told the outlet. “Politics cannot lead to the death of any member of society.”
Former vice president Otto Sonnenholzner echoed Zuquilanda’s words in a news conference saying, “We are dying, drowning in a sea of tears and we do not deserve to live like this. We demand that you do something.”
Villavicencio is survived by his wife and five children.
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