Christian Zurita has been announced as the replacement for Fernando Villavicencio in the upcoming August 20 elections, according to an announcement made by his political party.
Ecuador's political party, following the assassination of its presidential candidate, has selected a journalist, Christian Zurita, to replace the late Fernando Villavicencio on the ballot for the upcoming election scheduled for August 20. This decision was announced by the Movimiento Construye political party on Sunday.
Fernando Villavicencio, a 59-year-old journalist renowned for his anti-corruption efforts, was fatally shot as he exited a campaign rally in the capital city, Quito, on Wednesday night.
The selection of Christian Zurita as the party's candidate marks a change from Saturday's decision, when Construye had announced that Andrea Gonzalez, Villavicencio's running mate, would assume the position. However, party officials expressed concerns that Gonzalez's candidacy might be disqualified by election authorities due to her prior registration as the vice-presidential candidate for the election.
Prior to his tragic assassination, Villavicencio had been positioned as the second-place contender in the polls.
President Guillermo Lasso has attributed the assassination to organized crime.
Reflecting the prevailing sense of unease within the campaign, Christian Zurita and another candidate, Daniel Noboa, donned bulletproof vests as they appeared on a televised national debate on Sunday evening, accompanied by heightened security measures.
However, both Zurita and Gonzalez revealed that they were prevented from participating in the debate. An election official informed journalists that Zurita's documentation had been submitted just moments before the debate commenced, rendering him not officially recognized as a candidate during the event.
"Without Fernando, there can be no debate," expressed Zurita, aged 53, near the location where the remaining seven candidates were presenting their proposals.
Six Colombians have been arrested so far, and another individual was killed as part of the ongoing police investigation into the assassination.
During a press conference on Sunday, Police Commander General Fausto Salinas revealed that those detained for the murder had extensive criminal histories, involving a wide range of offenses such as weapons and drug trafficking, kidnapping, and theft.
Interior Minister Juan Zapata stated that investigators were continuing their efforts to determine who might have ordered the killing of Fernando Villavicencio.
A jailed gang leader named Jose Adolfo "Fito" Macias had reportedly issued threats against Villavicencio prior to the assassination. Macias was subsequently transferred to a maximum-security prison through a large-scale military and police operation on Saturday. Nonetheless, no specific gang has officially been attributed to the assassination.
Despite this, Villavicencio's widow, Veronica Sarauz, placed blame on the state for her husband's death, accusing the police of inadequately safeguarding him.
"This is a crime of the state since he was under the state's custody via the police," she asserted during a news briefing on Saturday.
She additionally attributed responsibility to supporters of former President Rafael Correa, who was handed an eight-year prison sentence in 2020 after Villavicencio had conducted a corruption investigation against him.
The day preceding his tragic assassination, Villavicencio had lodged a complaint with the public prosecutor's office, asserting discrepancies in oil contracts negotiated during Correa's tenure, estimating a potential loss to the country amounting to approximately $9 billion.
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