Ecuador has declared a state of emergency situation after a prominent anti-corruption opposition candidate was assassinated at a political rally on early Thursday. Fernando Villavicencio’s assassination is the latest flare-up of gang-driven violence in the country two weeks before a special presidential election.

Ecuador President Guillermo Lasso said that additional military personnel will be deployed throughout the country in the state of emergency, along with three days of national mourning.

“Given the loss of a democrat and a fighter, the elections are not suspended; on the contrary, they have to be held, and democracy has to be strengthened,” said Lasso.

The Ecudorian President further said “the murderers” of Villavicencio threw a grenade into the street to cover their flight, which failed to explode. Police later destroyed the grenade with a controlled explosion, he added.

Villavicencio was one of eight candidates, though not the frontrunner. The politician, 59, was the candidate for the Build Ecuador Movement. He was one of the most critical voices against corruption, especially during the government of former President Rafael Correa from 2007 to 2017. He filed many judicial complaints against high-ranking members of the Correa government.

The presidential candidate was also sentenced to 18 months in prison for defamation over his criticisms of Correa, causing him to flee to the Indigenous territory in Ecuador, and later received asylum in Peru.

According to his campaign team, he was about to get into a car on Thursday when a man stepped forward and shot him in the head. Ecuador’s attorney general’s office said a suspect in the assassination of Villavicencio died of wounds after being arrested by authorities.

A criminal gang called Los Lobos (The Wolves) has claimed responsibility for his assassination. Los Lobos is the second-largest gang in Ecuador with around 8,000 members, including many who are currently imprisoned.

Villavicencio has previously reported multiple death threats against him, including from people affiliated with Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, one of the major organised crime groups operating in Ecuador. 

The country has witnessed a sudden jump in violent crimes in the recent past. Multiple media reports claimed that the growing presence of drug cartels in Ecuador has been a significant issue in the presidential campaign. These gangs have reportedly recruited children.

Earlier last month, the mayor of the city of Manta, Agustin Intriago, was also killed in a similar fashion. In February, the candidate for mayor in the city of Puerto Lopez was also assassinated in broad daylight.

Meanwhile, Diana Atamaint, the president of Ecuador’s National Electoral Council, said the election date, August 20, was “unalterable” due to constitutional and legal mandates

(with AP inputs)

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