a debate between candidates marked by the assassination of Villavicencio

4 mins

Sunday’s presidential debate was particularly important as the election campaign was short due to the dissolution of parliament and the organization of new general elections anticipated by President Guillermo Lasso. But the presence of some 270 political movements has made many political proposals inaudible and the assassination this Wednesday of candidate Fernando Villavicencio has reshuffled the cards of the electoral campaign, reports our correspondent in Quito, Eric Samson.

A minute of silence for Villavicencio

Last night, the debate between seven candidates – eight desks were erected – began after a minute of silence in memory of the centrist Fernando Villavicencio, shot dead on Wednesday by a group of Colombians just before the first round of the presidential election on August 20. A murder that is part of a context of violence which does not spare political leaders since a mayor had been assassinated at the end of July.

Located between Colombia and Peru, the world’s largest cocaine producers, Ecuador faces a worrying rise in drug trafficking and gang violence. In 2021, the country seized a record 210 tons of narcotics and 201 tons the following year. Ecuador saw the homicide rate almost double in 2022 compared to the previous year, reaching 26 per 100,000 inhabitants.

The debate was therefore very marked by security issues. Right-wing candidate Daniel Noboa wore a bullet-proof vest, while indigenous lawyer Yaku Pérez, a left-wing candidate, showed off a black ribbon on his chest, reports Agence France presse.

In this context, the challenge was particularly important for the pro-Correa candidate who has long topped the polls, but recently Luisa Gonzalez was handicapped by certain statements by her presidential partner, Andrés Arauz, in favor of Venezuela for example, or an “equadollar”, which suggested a possible abandonment of dollarization, which was however popular in the country. The assassination of Villavicencio also made him fall in the voting intentions since the journalist had investigated Rafael Correa, revealing a system of corruption. It has therefore concentrated its blows in the debate against the one who has somewhat taken up the torch of the fight against insecurity, the Franco-Ecuadorian Jan Topic. She claimed, for example, that a sniper cannot be President of the Republic, alluding to Topic’s six years in the Foreign Legion. She also attacked his business activities, claiming that his companies owed $35 million to the taxman, which Topic denied.

The native candidate Yaku Perezwho was second in the last presidential election, played on his support for the referendum to ban theoil exploitation in the Yasuni Amazon area, but these environmental proposals are not really the current concern of Ecuadorians. The former vice-president, Otto Sonnenholzner, insists on his reasonable side, but which is perhaps too reasonable precisely at a time of anguish and collective emotion in Ecuador.

Cristian Zurita takes up the torch for the Construye party

The party Build whose candidate was assassinated was not represented in the debate, for lack of having obtained approval for his candidate from the National Electoral Council. The party first nominated Andrea Gonzalez, the vice-presidential candidate alongside Fernando Villavicencio before changing his tune on Sunday and choosing journalist Cristian Zurita, a close friend of the assassinated candidate. They worked together for twenty years in several press organs such as The Universe or primicias. The journalist regretted having been excluded from the debate, for lack of validation of his candidacy by the National Electoral Council. His party’s speaking time was occupied by the reading of a tribute to the assassinated candidate.

Also to listenEcuador: the assassination of Fernando Villavicencio “is part of a continuum of violence”

(and with agencies)