Ecuador declares state of emergency after presidential candidate shot dead

Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso has declared 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 mobilised throughout the national territory to guarantee the security of citizens, the tranquillity of the country and the free and democratic elections of August 20," Lasso said on Thursday in an address broadcast on YouTube.

Lasso confirmed the assassination of Villavicencio and suggested organized crime was behind his slaying, less than two weeks before the Aug. 20 presidential election.

An Ecuadorian presidential candidate known for speaking up against cartels and corruption was shot and killed on Wednesday at a political rally in the capital, amid a startling wave of gang-driven violence in the South American country.

"I assure you that this crime will not go unpunished," Lasso said in a statement. "Organised crime has gone too far, but they will feel the full weight of the law.”

Ecuador’s attorney general’s office said that one suspect died in custody from wounds sustained in a firefight after the killing, and police detained six suspects following raids in Quito.

Authorities said that at least nine others were injured in the Wednesday shooting, including officers and a congressional candidate, in what they described as a “terrorist act.”

The killing was met with an outcry by other candidates who demanded action, with presidential front-runner Luisa Gonzalez of the Citizen Revolution party saying "when they touch one of us, they touch all of us."

In his final speech, before he was killed, Villavicencio promised a roaring crowd that he would root out corruption and lock up the country’s "thieves."

Multiple death threats

Prior to the shooting, Villavicencio said he had received multiple death threats, including from affiliates of Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel, one of a slew of international organized crime groups that now operate in Ecuador. He said his campaign represented a threat to such groups.

"Here I am showing my face. I'm not scared of them," Villavicencio said in a statement, naming detained crime boss Jose Adolfo Macias by his alias "Fito."

Villavicencio was one of eight candidates, though not the front-runner. The politician, 59, was the candidate for the Build Ecuador Movement.

Villavicencio was one of the country's most critical voices against corruption, especially during the 2007-2017 government of President Rafael Correa.

He was also an independent journalist who investigated corruption in previous governments, later entering politics as an anti-graft campaigner.

Villavicencio filed many judicial complaints against high-ranking members of the Correa government, including against the ex-president himself.

He was sentenced to 18 months in prison for defamation over his criticisms of Correa, and fled to Indigenous territory in Ecuador, later receiving asylum in neighboring Peru.

Villavicencio was married and is survived by five children.