Blood on the presidential elections in Ecuador, scheduled for August 20th. One of the candidates, Fernando Villavicencio, 59, was shot dead at the end of a rally in Quito. He was on the list with the governing party.
Journalist and politician, he was hit by numerous shots as he was leaving a school in the capital where a rally was taking place.
The news of Villavicencio's death was confirmed a few minutes after the attack from the Clinica de la Mujer where he had been rushed.
The murder shook the entire political spectrum of the country, with a unanimous condemnation of the attack.
The absolute favorite in the polls, Luisa Gonzalez, candidate of former president Rafael Correa's party, expressed her "indignation" by stating that Villavicencio's death "is a mourning for everyone". Similarly, the candidate of the Pachakutik indigenous movement, Yaku Peréz, running for the ballot, expressed his condolences and affirmed that "Ecuador does not deserve any more deaths".
The Attorney General of Ecuador reported this morning that six people were arrested during the raids carried out in the areas of Conocoto and San Bartolo, in Quito, in the context of the murder. One of the suspected men died after a firefight with security agents.
(Unioneonline/ss)