Ecuador Elections 2023: Campaign closes disrupted by the murder of Fernando Villavicencio

The candidates for the presidency of Ecuador The campaign events closed this Thursday, on a day marked by the tribute to the candidate murdered by a hitman and the denunciation of an alleged shooting attack by another of them.

Wearing a bulletproof vest and helmet, the journalist Christian Zurita led the tributes in Quito to their friend Fernando Villavicenciokilled by a Colombian gunman on August 9.

LOOK HERE: Elections 2023 in Ecuador: Who leads the race for the Presidency according to the latest polls?

Zurita, who replaced Villavicencio in the presidential formula of the centrist party buildparticipated in a Catholic mass before hundreds of followers dressed in white T-shirts.

Surrounded by photos of Villavicencio and heavily armed police officers, supporters carried roses, released white balloons and sang in memory of the former journalist.

Ecuadorian presidential candidate Yaku Pérez participates in an ancestral ritual during the closing of his campaign ahead of the August 20 national elections in Quito, on August 17, 2023. (Photo by Rodrigo BUENDIA / AFP) (RODRIGO BUENDIA /)

Some attendees cried at the first public act of Zurita, who since Sunday, when he was presented as a candidate, had preferred to stay away from the crowds due to security risks.

attack in verification

From the town of Duran (southwest), the right-wing candidate Daniel Noboa He denounced an attack against his caravan.

“Thank God we came out unharmed. Intimidation and fear have no place in the country we love and for which we are committed to changing once and for all.”, he wrote on the social network X, formerly called Twitter.

The police and the Ministry of the Interior contradicted that version and are investigating whether it was a crossfire between criminals.

A member of the campaign team told AFP that people opened fire as their cars passed by.

the leftist Luisa Gonzalezfavorite in the polls, visited Guayaquil (Southwest) to convince voters to help him win the presidency in the first round, the great ambition of his political godfather, the former president Rafael Correa (2007-2017).

Ecuadorian presidential candidate for the Movimiento Revolución Ciudadana party, Luisa González, speaks during the closing of her campaign in Guayaquil, Ecuador, on August 17, 2023. (Photo by MARCOS PIN / AFP) (MARCOS PIN /)

That port was also the scene of the latest events before supporters of the former right-wing vice president Otto Sonnenholzner (2018-2020). In Quito, the leftist Yaku Perez he toured wearing a bulletproof vest, an unusual image of the indigenous leader who is running for the presidency for the second time.

MORE INFORMATION: Who is Jan Topic, the “Ecuadorian Bukele” who promises a “strong hand” and an Ecuador “without fear” | PROFILE

transnational crime

Earlier, Zurita said he suspected that transnational crime was behind Villavicencio’s murder. The hitman who shot him died in a shootout with the bodyguards and six other Colombians are in custody.

The new presidential candidate intuits that his proposals to end the business and the routes of the drug traffickers who operate with gangs motivated the homicide.

Former Ecuadorian vice president and presidential candidate for the right-wing Actuemos alliance, Otto Sonnenholzner, during the closing of his campaign in Guayaquil, Ecuador, on August 17, 2023. (Photo by Gerardo MENOSCAL / AFP) (GERARDO MENOSCAL /)

“I am almost sure that he was assassinated because he said that he would militarize the ports and we are going to maintain that as a principle”, Zurita said on Thursday in a meeting with international media.

Before his death, Villavicencio denounced that he was threatened by aliases phytoleader of “The Choneros”, a gang that has been linked to Colombian guerrilla dissidents FARC and the Sinaloa Mexican cartel.

Blessing

Zurita was an ally of Villavicencio when as journalists they uncovered corruption cases during Correa’s tenure.

In one of their investigations, they revealed that Correa had agreed with businessmen for financial support for their campaigns in exchange for giving them state contracts.

The former president, who denies these accusations and lives in exile in Belgiumwas sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison.

He also put Correa’s dolphin on the ropes, Lenin Moreno (2017-2021), for an alleged network of corruption in a hydroelectric plant, in a case that has not been tried.

Ecuadorian presidential candidate for the For A Country Without Fear party, Jan Topic, speaks during the closing of his campaign ahead of the August 20 national elections in Guayaquil, Ecuador, on August 17, 2023. (Photo by JIMMY NEGRETE/ AFP) (JIMMY NEGRETE /)

Another of his investigations crossed borders, when he involved the former Colombian senator Piedad CordobaCorrea’s friend, with alex saaballeged figurehead of Venezuelan Chavismo imprisoned in USA.

Due to his closeness to Villavicencio, Zurita considered himself an ideal successor to take over their banners.

ALSO SEE: Elections in Ecuador: The ups and downs of Villavicencio’s successor (and the attempt of Correísmo to block his candidacy)

“Not having done it (replacing him), would have been a betrayal of his fight, a betrayal of his name“, said.

Villavicencio’s mother, Glory Valenciagave him his blessing:Christian Zurita is the only one who can replace my son”, he told the newspaper El Universo.

Before his death, Villavicencio was second in voting intentions (12.5%), according to the firm cedatos. González led that survey (24%), one of several that exist in the country.

Source: Elcomercio