U.S. offers reward for information on murdered Ecuador candidate

On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced his country is offering a reward of USD 5 million in exchange for information on the murder of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.

Mr. Villavicencio, a former journalist who was running on an anti-corruption ticket, was assassinated by multiple gunshots in the aftermath of an August 9 campaign rally.

“The United States will continue to support the people of Ecuador and work to bring to justice individuals who seek to undermine democratic processes through violent crime,” Mr. Blinken said. So far, Ecuadorian authorities have arrested six Colombians in connection with the crime, believed to be linked to drug cartels.

Shortly before his assassination, Mr. Villavicencio had denounced death threats from notorious drug cartels, saying he would continue to campaign regardless. People in his close circle also linked his killing to other mayoral assassinations earlier this year.

Recently, violence has escalated to unprecedented levels in Ecuador, with hundreds of deaths in prison riots, car bombings, and kidnappings for ransom becoming frighteningly normal. Now, candidates are campaigning in bullet-proof vests, and security has become a main concern for voters.

The first round of voting saw the surprise result of banana mogul son Daniel Noboa outperforming all polls to make it into the runoff, after a head-to-head contest with left-winger Luisa González, a protegée of former President Rafael Correa, who is currently exiled in Belgium.

The candidates will participate in a televised debate on October 1, with the economy and crime pitted as the two main topics up for discussion. 

Pollsters show that Mr. Noboa currently holds a slim lead over Ms. González, with the gap in the candidates’ polling numbers ranging between 4 and 9 percentage points — meaning that undecided voters could turn the result around.

Due to the polarizing nature of Mr. Correa in Ecuador, analysts predict a potential repeat of the 2021 election, when the left-wing candidate Andrés Arauz lost a narrow runoff despite leading the first round of voting.

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