QUITO (Reuters) – The assassination of Ecuadorean presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio less than two weeks before the election has sent shockwaves through the South American country, leading some rivals to suspend campaigning and bringing the issue of rising violence to the foreground.

Villavicencio, a vocal critic of corruption and organized crime, was killed on Wednesday during an evening campaign event in northern Quito.

A suspect in the crime later died of injuries sustained in a shoot-out and six others have so far been arrested, the attorney general’s office said. Nine people, including a candidate for the legislature and two police officers, were injured, it added.

President Guillermo Lasso said the crime was clearly an attempt to sabotage the election, but that voting would go ahead as planned on Aug. 20, albeit amid a national state of emergency, with the military mobilized to guarantee security.

Lasso also declared three days of mourning.

Violence in Ecuador has surged in recent years, especially in cities along drug-trafficking routes like Guayaquil and Esmeraldas where citizens say they live in fear.

Several Latin American countries have seen similar issues since the coronavirus pandemic.

Villavicencio’s party Movimiento Construye on Thursday rejected what it said was “political use” of his death and called for a speedy investigation in a statement posted on social media.

Movimiento Construye said: “Those who sit to negotiate with mafiosos, those who give them microphones, those who generate fear campaigns with trick videos in the name of criminal organizations and who take the name of Fernando Villavicencio in vain with lies are responsible for the crime.”

Villavicencio, a married father, had 7.5% support in polls, placing him fifth out of eight candidates.

Countries lined up to condemn his assassination and call for a full investigation.

Source: Hamodia