The replacement for a murdered Ecuadorian presidential candidate has said he is preparing to leave the country after receiving a series of threats against his life from organized crime gangs.

“I was never afraid, but the conditions are no longer the same as they were,” Cristian Surita told Ecuavisa TV on Monday.

“I have personal security. I have to wear a bulletproof vest and helmet at all times. I don’t want this to be my life. I have to take time out,” he said.

Before he leaves, he added, he will finish a book he had written together with Fernando Villavicencio, which marked a political foundation for the party founded by the deceased.

Mr. Surita, journalist, former partner and close friend of the deceased, replaced him in extremis, was the candidate of the Construye party in the first round of the presidential elections on August 20.

Fernando Villavicencio, an opposition presidential candidate, was assassinated on August 9 as he was leaving a campaign rally in the country’s capital, Quito, by a group of Colombian hitmen.

Ecuadorian authorities blamed the killing on organized crime.

Despite his murder, Fernando Villavicencio’s name remained on the ballot and received the third highest number of votes. The one-time trade unionist and ex-journalist ran a campaign focused on fighting corruption in Ecuador, once an oasis of calm in Latin America that has now turned into a drug cartel battleground.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) called on the Ecuadorian authorities in a public letter to guarantee Mr. Surita’s safety.

On October 15, left-wing candidate Luisa Gonzalez, who belongs to the faction of exiled former president Rafael Correa – who has been convicted of corruption, although he continues to deny any wrongdoing – and Daniel Noboa, right-wing candidate and son of billionaire Alvaro Noboa, they will face each other in the second round of the presidential elections.