Party Of Slain Ecuador Candidate Taps Reporter As Replacement

The party of Ecuador's slain presidential candidate on Sunday tapped a reporter to take his place on the ballot as several contenders to lead the South American nation in a vote later this month showed up for a national debate wearing bulletproof vests.

Ecuadoran journalist Christian Zurita will take the place of slain candidate Fernando Villavicencio in the country's August 20 elections, the Movimiento Construye political party announced Sunday.

Villavicencio, a 59-year-old journalist himself and known for his anti-corruption crusades, was gunned down as he left a campaign rally in the capital Quito on Wednesday night.

The naming of Zurita as the party's candidate is a reversal from Saturday, when Construye had said Villavicencio's running mate, Andrea Gonzalez, would take the top spot on the bill.

But party officials worried that Gonzalez's candidacy might be thrown out by election authorities, since she was already registered as the vice presidential candidate for the August 20 vote.

Villavicencio had been polling at second place before his shock assassination.

President Guillermo Lasso has blamed the Villavicencio's murder on organized crime.

In a sign of the apprehension now pervading the campaign, Zurita and another candidate, Daniel Noboa, both appeared Sunday evening at a television studio wearing bulletproof vests ahead of a national debate. Security was heavy.

Six Colombians have so far been arrested and another killed in the police investigation into the assassination.

At a news conference Sunday, Police Commander General Fausto Salinas said those apprehended for the murder had long prior criminal records, having committed an "infinity of crimes" related to weapons and drug trafficking, kidnapping and theft.

Interior Minister Juan Zapata said investigators were continuing to look into who might have ordered the killing of Villavicencio.

Imprisoned gang leader Jose Adolfo "Fito" Macias had allegedly threatened Villavicencio before he was slain.

Macias was transferred to a maximum security prison via a massive military and police operation on Saturday, but no specific gang has been officially blamed in the assassination.

Villavicencio's widow, Veronica Sarauz, blamed the state for her husband's death, accusing police of not adequately protecting him.

"This is a state crime because he was under the custody of the state through the police," she said during a news conference on Saturday.

She also blamed supporters of ex-president Rafael Correa, who was sentenced in 2020 to eight years in prison after Villavicencio had investigated him for corruption.

The day before his assassination, Villavicencio had filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor's Office, alleging irregularities in oil contracts negotiated during Correa's administration, estimating a loss to the country of around $9 billion.