A Presidential Candidate of Ecuador was Murdered at a Meeting with Voters

Ecuador's presidential candidate was killed during a campaign rally.

Fernando Villavicencio, who is also a former lawmaker, was shot dead in the capital, Quito. His Movimiento Construye party said on Twitter that gunmen attacked its offices in the capital, Quito.

President Guillermo Lasso vowed that the act would not go unpunished.

Lasso said organized crime has gone too far, but now the law will come down on it with its full force.

Security chiefs have been summoned to an emergency meeting.

Videos from the campaign show people hiding in panic as gunshots rang out.

Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando #Villavicencio was killed after a campaign rally. pic.twitter.com/WPHSY3HX38

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) August 10, 2023

A suspect in the murder died of his wounds after a shootout with the security forces, the Ecuadorian prosecutor's office reported, as quoted by BNR.

Villavicencio, who is from the Andean province of Chimborazo, is a former trade unionist at the state oil company Petroecuador and later a journalist who exposed alleged losses of millions in oil contracts.

On Tuesday, he filed a report with the Attorney General's Office, again related to the oil business, but no further details are known at this time.

Villavicencio was an outspoken critic of former President Rafael Correa and was sentenced to 18 months in prison for defamation for his remarks against the former head of state.

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