Presidential candidates in Ecuador paid tribute to Fernando Villavicencio at the closing ceremony of their campaign

Acts are in campaign closure for the presidential elections in Ecuador ends this Thursday, a day marked by tributes to the slain candidate, Fernando Villavicencio and the allegation of an alleged armed attack against another of the applicants.

Put on a bulletproof vest and helmet, the journalist Christian Zuritawho replaced Villavicencio as the presidential candidate of the centrist party buildattended a mass in front of hundreds of followers dressed in white.

among the pictures Villavicencio and armed police, Zurita’s supporters carry roses, release white balloons and sing in honor of the late journalist.

From the city of Durán (southwest), the right candidate Daniel Noboa denounce an attack against his entourage.

“Thank God we got out safely. Bullying and fear have no place in the country we love and which we are committed to change once and for all.“, he wrote on the X social network, formerly known as Twitter.

The police and the Ministry of the Interior rejected this version and are investigating whether it was a cross between criminals.

A member of the campaign team told the news agency AFP that unknown subjects opened fire in front of passing vehicles.

the left Luisa Gonzalezfavorite in the polls, visited Guayaquil (southwest) to convince voters to help him win the presidency in the first round, the great ambition of his political sponsor, the former president. Rafael Correa (2007-2017).

This port has also been the scene of recent events in front of supporters of the right-wing former vice president Otto Sonnenholzer (2018-2020). In Quito, the left Yaku Perez he toured in a bulletproof vest, an unusual image for the indigenous leader who is running for president for the second time.

Earlier, Zurita said that he suspected that the transnational crime is behind the assassination of Villavicencio. The shooter who shot him died in a shootout with bodyguards and six other Colombians involved in prison.

The new presidential candidate intuited that his proposals to end the business and road of drug traffickers who operate with gangs motivated the murder.

“I am almost certain that he was assassinated because he said he would militarize the ports and we will keep that as a matter of principle.“, Zurita said on Thursday in a meeting with international media.

Before his death, Villavicencio denounced that he was threatened by the alias Fito, the leader of “the honorees”a gang linked to Colombian guerrilla dissidents FARC and the Mexican cartel Sinaloa.

Zurita was an ally of Villavicencio when as the journalists found out corruption cases during Correa’s tenure.

In one of the investigations, they revealed that Correa agreed with drunken businessmen financial support for your campaigna change to deliver state contracts.

The former president, who denies the allegations and lives in exile in Belgium, was sentenced in absentia for eight years in prison.

It also protects Correa from the ropes, Lenin Moreno (2017-2021), for an alleged year network corruption in a hydroelectricin a case that has not been tried.

Another of his investigations crossed borders, when he involved the former Colombian senator Piedad CordobaFriend Correa, with Alex Saab, closed in the US and the face of the Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.

Due to his proximity to Villavicencio, Zurita considered himself an ideal successor to take the banners.

“Not did it (replace him), it would be a betrayal of his fight, a betrayal of his name,” he said.

Villavicencio’s mother, Gloria Valencia, gave him her blessing: “Christian Zurita is the only person who can replace my sonhe told the newspaper The universe.

Before his death, Villavicencio was second in voting intentions (12.5%), according to the Cedatos company. González led this survey (24%), one of several that exist in the country.

(With information from AFP)

Continue reading: