The president of Ecuador, the conservative Guillermo Lasso, declared this Wednesday night a state of emergency in the country for 60 days, after the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.
In a message to the nation after a meeting of the State Security Cabinet, Lasso said that the date of the extraordinary general elections, scheduled for August 20, will be maintained, but that military personnel will be deployed throughout the country to guarantee the citizen security. voters.
At least nine people were injured in the attack that killed Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio on Wednesday, in which the suspect in the attack also died after a shootout with security guards, according to authorities.
Among the injured are a candidate for deputy and two police officers, reported the Public Ministry, which, together with the Police, is collecting evidence at the crime scene and at the medical center where the victims were taken.
Authorities reported that six people were arrested. The attack took place at a rally that Villavicencio was holding in a coliseum in a central and crowded area of Quito, where an unknown gunman shot at the candidate to occupy the presidency of Ecuador in the extraordinary general elections scheduled for August 20.
The other presidential candidates expressed dismay and outrage over the assassination of Fernando Villavicencio and announced the suspension of campaign activities.
Minutes after confirming the death of the journalist and former congressman, the president of Ecuador, the conservative Guillermo Lasso, also expressed his dismay at the murder of Villavicencio and promised that the crime would not go unpunished.
“Outraged and shocked by the murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. My solidarity and condolences to his wife and daughters. For his memory and for his fight, I assure you that this crime will not go unpunished, ”Lasso wrote on social networks.
“Organized crime has come a long way, but the full weight of the law will fall on it,” declared the head of state, during whose term the biggest insecurity crisis the country has ever experienced broke out, due to the proliferation and violence of actions of groups associated with international drug trafficking mafias, according to authorities.
Villavicencio, identified as a critic of former President Rafael Correa (2007-2017), was traveling with police protection due to the threats he had received weeks before.
Mexico, Honduras, Colombia and Spain were the first countries to condemn the attack.
Source: TSF
