Ecuador: New presidential candidate picked

Just one week earlier than the election, Fernando Villavicencio’s political get together selected his potential vice presidential candidate to take his place because the get together standard-bearer. Villavicencio was Ecuador’s presidential contender and was assassinated on August 10.

Villavicencio’s Construct get together, or Construye in Spanish, stated in a social media put up, that Andrea Gonzalez would take the place of the deceased 59-year-old within the election on August 20.

In a while within the day on Saturday, the late candidate’s widow denounced the get together’s alternative as being unconstitutional.

Based on the get together’s social media posts, “thousands and thousands of Ecuadorians will accompany her on this objective” and she’s going to “assure the legacy” of Mr. Villavicencio.

Based on the get together, “probably the most trusted of those that have shared the struggles of comrade Fernando Villavicencio” would be the candidate for the vice presidency.

What we learn about Villavicencio’s assassination:

Regardless of having his personal government-provided safety element, Villavicencio, an ex-lawmaker and journalist with a historical past of uncovering corruption, was shot and killed final week after leaving a marketing campaign occasion within the capital Quito.

Six suspects have been charged with the homicide and are nonetheless in detention following a choose’s order to maintain them behind bars until the investigation continues. All suspects are Colombian nationals who police allege have connections to legal organizations.

Authorities moved a strong gang boss, accused of threatening Villavicencio earlier than his homicide, to a maximum-security facility on Saturday. 

These gangs have developed right into a formidable foe due to the funding they obtain from their new supporters overseas and the highly effective weaponry they smuggle from the US by way of Mexico.

Late Villavicencio’s spouse: state accountable

Villavicencio’s widow, Veronica Sarauz, instructed reporters on Saturday that she immediately blames the Ecuadorian state for her husband’s loss of life. She arrived on the information convention below the safety of an armed police escort and whereas donning a bulletproof vest and helmet. She stated that the federal government nonetheless has quite a lot of solutions to offer for all the things that occurred.

Gonzalez was chosen by the get together, however Sarauz known as the selection “arbitrary” and stated it violated a rule that forbade the vice presidential candidate from resigning.

What’s going to occur now?

The get together’s stand-in candidates nonetheless require approval from the nationwide electoral council. Villavicencio selected Gonzalez, an environmental activist who has by no means held public workplace, to be his operating within the unexpectedly scheduled snap election by outgoing President Guillermo Lasso.

Votes for Villvicencio will routinely shift to the get together candidate even though ballots have already been printed.

Temporary background

The 18 million-person nation of South America has skilled an uptick in violence, together with a dramatic rise within the homicide fee, in recent times.

Previous to his homicide, Villavicencio had been polling in the course of a subject of eight contenders. Along with safety, employment and immigration have turn into essential marketing campaign subjects. His passing has shaken a rustic that, for probably the most half, has averted the many years of drug-gang violence, cartel battles, and corruption which have plagued a lot of its neighbours. Nevertheless, because of the growth of the Mexican and Colombian drug cartels, crime has dramatically elevated within the nation just lately

The presidential candidate had believed in well-liked assist and had stated “You might be my bulletproof vest”.

Mr. Villavicencio was one in every of only a few candidates to assert ties between organized crime and authorities officers in Ecuador throughout his marketing campaign, which targeting corruption and gangs.