Ecuador presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, a vocal critic of corruption and organized crime, was killed on Wednesday evening during a campaign event in the north of the capital Quito, authorities said.
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    5·
    1 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    Lasso’s government has blamed rising violence on the streets and in prisons on criminal infighting to control trafficking routes used by Mexican cartels, the Albanian mafia and others to move drugs.

    Villavicencio’s party Movimiento Construye said on X that armed men attacked its Quito offices in a separate incident.

    The party said discussions had been held recently about whether to suspend campaigning due to political violence, including the July murder of the mayor of Manta.

    Villavicencio opposed the suspension, it said, saying “keeping silent and hiding in moments when criminals assassin citizens and authorities is an act of cowardice”.

    As a legislator, Villavicencio was criticized by opposition politicians for obstructing an impeachment process this year against Lasso, which lead the latter to call the early elections.

    Indigenous candidate Yaku Perez said he had decided to suspend his presidential campaign and demanded the violence stop in a video posted after the incident.

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