Ecuador Declares State Of Emergency After Killing Of Presidential Candidate Fernando Villavicencio

Ecuador President Lasso has declared State Of Emergency after the killing of Presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.

Ecuador President Lasso has declared State Of Emergency after the killing of Presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.

Source : Getty

Ecuador President Guillermo Lasso has declared State Of Emergency for 60 days after the killing of Presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, as reported by news agency AFP. Villavicencio was shot dead after holding a rally in Quito. Following the incident, President Lasso blamed Villavicencio's death on "organized crime" and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice, AFP reported.

#UPDATE Ecuadoran President Guillermo Lasso declares a state of emergency for 60 days throughout the country after the shooting murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.

"The Armed Forces as of this moment are mobilized throughout the national territory to… pic.twitter.com/vO7amKGuxT

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) August 10, 2023

"The Armed Forces as of this moment are mobilized throughout the national territory to guarantee the security of citizens, the tranquility of the country and the free and democratic elections of August 20," Lasso said in an address broadcast on YouTube, as quoted by AFP

Ecuadoran presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio shot dead after holding a rally in Quito.

President Guillermo Lasso blames Villavicencio's death on "organized crime" and vows to bring the perpetrators to justicehttps://t.co/9GdpuGy9sp pic.twitter.com/vOkdUhaWiQ

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) August 10, 2023

Villavicencio, a 59-year-old journalist, was one of eight candidates in the August 20 presidential election. Ecuador is facing record levels of gang violence, with drug trafficking getting out of control, as people prepare to vote for the polls, The Washington Post reported.

Villavicencio was shot multiple times as he left the rally at a high school in Quito, the deputy commander of the Ecuadorean national police, General Manuel Iniguez, said, as reported by The Washington Post.He was rushed to a nearby clinic, where he was declared dead. A police officer also sustained injuries in the attack, General Manuel Iniguez said. The gunmen also launched a grenade toward Villavicencio’s group.

However, the grenade did not explode, The Washington Post reported. Villavicencio was a member of Ecuador’s National Assembly before it was dissolved in May. 

Earlier in June, six people were killed and six were injured in an apparent gang shootout in Ecuador's Guayaquil, the news agency AFP reported, citing police. Police Colonel Marcelo Castillo told AFP that Guayaquil's second mass shooting in June appeared to have been a settling of scores between rival gangs.

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