UPDATE AT END of Description:

Ecuador: Moment of the attack that resulted in the death of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.

Villavicencio was one of the eight candidates for the presidency for the elections on August 20. He became a presidential candidate after a short political career, but a long one in public life.

He was a national assemblyman between 2021 and 2023, where he chaired the Political Oversight and Control Commission. During his time in the Legislature, he was an independent assemblyman and did not join any of the coalitions.

He promoted investigations, especially on oil issues, on the governments of Rafael Correa, Lenín Moreno and the current one, of Guillermo Lasso . His largest investigation as an assembly member was in the Petrochina case , in which he denounced a corruption scheme in oil brokerage. His last job in the Assembly was leading the impeachment trial against President Lasso. In that role, he was harshly criticized by Correísmo for an alleged closeness to the government, but he defended himself, accusing the opposition of acting without evidence.

In the Assembly, he directed the Anti-Corruption Parliamentary Front, from where he also filed several complaints, including alleged links between candidates and drug trafficking.

Update, 10th Aug: Representatives of one of the largest gangs in Ecuador, Los Lobos, have claimed responsibility for the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavisencio, as reported by the Colombian magazine Semana (https://www.semana.com/mundo/articulo/urgente-video-circula-en-redes-de-una-organizacion-criminal-los-lobos-que-se-atribuye-la-muerte-del-candidato-villavicencio-en-ecuador/202344/)

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The criminals cited "unfulfilled promises" and corruption as the reasons for their actions. The Los Lobos gang has also issued threats against other politicians.

Previously, Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso labeled Villavisencio's murder as a "political crime" and an attempt to disrupt the elections.