Ecuador: Presidential Candidate Killed
Ecuador: Presidential Candidate Killed
(Washington D.C.) – The killing of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio is a blow to Ecuador’s democracy and underscores a violence crisis in the country, Human Rights Watch said today.
On August 9, 2023, an assailant shot and killed Villavicencio as he was leaving a campaign event in Quito, the country’s capital, in advance of the August 20 presidential election. Villavicencio, a journalist and former legislator, had a long record of exposing corruption, human rights violations, and abuses by organized crime. The Attorney General’s Office reported that one suspect was injured during confrontations with the police and died shortly afterward. Six more people were arrested. Villavicencio had reported receiving threats from the Los Choneros, a gang that he associated with the Mexican drug trafficking organization Sinaloa cartel. (Human Rights Watch, USA, 10.08.2023)
https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/08/10/ecuador-presidential-candidate-killed