Ecuador maintains election date despite the murder of Fernando Villavicencio

Ecuador’s anticipated general elections on August 20 will take place as scheduled, announced the head of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Diana Atamaint, after the assassination on Wednesday of one of the main presidential candidates, according to a survey.

“The date of the elections scheduled for August 20 remain unchanged, in compliance with the constitutional and legal mandate. Atamaint said in a joint statement with the president William Lasso released by YouTube after a meeting of the Security Cabinet and senior officials from other state entities.

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The authorities met urgently and behind closed doors at the government headquarters following the assassination of the presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, second in intention to vote and that on Wednesday night in Quito he was the victim of a shooting attack that left nine injured and an alleged attacker also dead.

Atamaint added that the Armed Forces and the Police “will redouble security in all electoral precincts” so that the elections “are carried out with guarantees to choose freely, in peace and with security.”

Previously, Lasso blamed members of “organized crime” for the murder, whom he warned that “the full weight of the law will fall on them.”

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Ecuador has faced a wave of violence linked to drug trafficking in recent years.

Villavicencio was one of the eight presidential candidates and was second in voting intentions with 13.2%, behind Luisa González (26.6%), the only woman in the running and close to former socialist president Rafael Correa (2007-2017), according to a survey by the company Cedatos.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.