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Ecuador declares state of emergency after presidential candidate is assassinated at campaign rally
Presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio waves an Ecuador national flag during a campaign event at a school minutes before he was shot to death outside the same school in Quito, Ecuador, August 9, 2023

ECUADOREAN President Guillermo Lasso announced a 60-day state of emergency yesterday after a candidate for the presidency, Fernando Villavicencio, was shot dead the day before.

However, Mr Lasso insisted that the presidential election would go ahead as planned on August 20.

“We are not going to hand over power and democratic institutions to organised crime, even if it is disguised as political organisations. We must banish hatred and revenge as a political practice,” he declared.

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