A candidate in the August 20 presidential election in Ecuador, Fernando Villavicencio, was assassinated by an unknown gunman as he was finishing a campaign rally last Wednesday night in the capital Quito, the country’s outgoing president Guillermo Lasso announced.

Centrist politician Fernando Villavicencio, 59, was among the eight candidates in the first round of the presidential election.

According to recent polls, she ranked second in terms of voting intentions, garnering between 7.5 and 13 percent, behind lawyer Luisa Gonzalez, the candidate of former socialist President Rafael Correa’s faction.

“I am outraged and shocked by the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio,” President Lasso said via X (formerly Twitter). “I want to assure you that this crime will not go unpunished,” he continued.

“Organized crime pulled it off, but it will face the full weight of the law,” he promised.

Mr Lasso, a right-wing former banker, called an emergency late-night meeting with security officials.

In recent years, Ecuador, between Colombia and Peru, has been hit by a wave of violence attributed to drug-trafficking gangs.

In the middle of a pre-election process, a mayor and a candidate for parliament were murdered.

The president of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Diana Atamaid, complained yesterday Wednesday that members of the institution, which is responsible for organizing the electoral process, have received threats against their lives.