Ecuador’s Construye Picks Another Presidential Candidate After Murder of Villavicencio

© AFP 2024 RODRIGO BUENDIAEmployees carry the coffin of slain Ecuadorean presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio during his funeral in Quito on August 11, 2023. Ecuador declared a state of emergency Thursday and asked the FBI to help probe the assassination of a popular presidential candidate, whose death has highlighted the once-peaceful nation's decline into a violent hotbed of drug trafficking and organized crime.
Employees carry the coffin of slain Ecuadorean presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio during his funeral in Quito on August 11, 2023. Ecuador declared a state of emergency Thursday and asked the FBI to help probe the assassination of a popular presidential candidate, whose death has highlighted the once-peaceful nation's decline into a violent hotbed of drug trafficking and organized crime. - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 14.08.2023
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BUENOS AIRES (Sputnik) – Construye Movement, the party of assassinated Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, says it has chosen another candidate for the presidential race.
On Saturday, Construye Movement said that Villavicencio’s running mate Andrea Gonzalez Nader was going to be the party’s presidential candidate.
On Sunday, the party said that Ecuadorian journalist Christian Zurita would be its candidate at the August 20 election. The announcement came after concerns were raised that the National Electoral Council of Ecuador (NEC) may not accept her as a candidate because she was already registered as a vice-presidential candidate.
Villavicencio was shot dead at a campaign rally on Wednesday, less than two weeks before the election. The main suspect in the assassination died of gunshot wounds, the General Prosecutor's Office said, while six other suspects were detained.
Presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio waves an Ecuadorean  flag during a campaign event at a school minutes before he was shot to death outside the same school in Quito, Ecuador - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 10.08.2023
OAS Urges Ecuador to Strengthen Security After Murder of Presidential Candidate
Diana Atamaint, the president of the NEC, said on Thursday that the date of Ecuador's early presidential election scheduled for August 20 would remain unchanged despite the assassination of Villavicencio. She said the country's armed forces would guarantee the security of Ecuadorians throughout the planned electoral process, adding that the protection for the remaining presidential candidates would be doubled.
Ecuadorian media reported that, on Thursday, Estefany Puente Castro, a left-wing opposition politician running for a parliamentary seat in the National Assembly, came under an armed attack while driving in the city of Quevedo, in the Ecuadorian province of Los Rios, with her father and a company employee. Puente was not injured.
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