2023-08-10 16:12:00
United States | The United States condemned, this Thursday, the assassination of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio and described it as an “attack on Ecuadorian democracy.”
In a message on X, as Twitter is now called, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan stated that “the United States condemns this brazen act of violence and attack on Ecuadorian democracy.”
The adviser to the US president Joe Biden offered his condolences to the family of Villavicencio, who died when he was hit by several shots on Wednesday after a rally.
The former journalist was one of the eight presidential candidates for the early general elections in Ecuador scheduled for August 20. He was presenting himself as a candidate for the Construye and Gente Buena movements of the center.
A week ago, Villavicencio reported threats against him and his campaign team allegedly coming from the leader of a criminal gang linked to drug trafficking who is in custody.
Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso attributed the murder to members of “organized crime.”
Ecuador, located between Colombia and Peru, the world’s main cocaine producers, is suffering a wave of violence, especially in prisons, linked to drug trafficking.
In mid-July, the United States and Ecuador signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen the capabilities of the armed forces “in their fight to combat threats to security and peace,” according to the Ecuadorian government.
This memorandum includes the exchange of information “to combat armed groups and drug trafficking,” the “training” of military personnel, and the “acquisition of resources,” Quito reported at the time without giving figures.
#condemns #assassination #Ecuadorian #candidate #attack #democracy