Ecuador's presidential candidates promised improved security during Sunday night's debate, days after their compatriot Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated outside a campaign event.
The killing of the 59-year-old man in the final days of the campaign sent shockwaves across the South American nation of 18 million, where violent crime by transnational gangs has increased dramatically in recent years. recent years.
Villavicencio, a former lawmaker and investigative journalist best known for exposing corruption, has repeatedly said that he is not afraid of gangs despite the threats he receives.
An empty podium stood in place of Villavicencio as several candidates pledged to fight crime in the tumultuous debate, which the original moderators struggled to control.
Luisa Gonzalez, who leads the polls with about 30% of the vote, has pledged to roll back the policies implemented by her adviser, former President Rafael Correa, who left office in 2017 and was later convicted of corruption. "We're going to put the security back on the streets, so they don't kill us, with a firmness against crime," Gonzalez said. "We will regain control of this country."
Law and order candidate Jan Topic said he would shift $1.2 billion in revenue from police fines to a "zero tolerance" plan for security.
The topic said: “We will regain control of 36 prisons and northern and southern borders so that illegal drug and weapons trafficking never comes to our streets, page equip and train our law enforcement and integrate all intelligence sources.”
Pro-market candidate Otto Sonnenholzner also promises a tough response to crime.
"We're going to support law enforcement, when a criminal points a gun at a citizen, he knows he's getting the bullet he deserves," Sonnenholzner said. Indigenous candidate Yaku Perez, who says he is the only candidate with an advanced law degree, promises social improvements and better crime data to inform policy information.
"We're going to give the final answer to conventional crime and organized crime," Perez said.
Earlier on Sunday, leaders of the Construction party, or Construye in Spanish, announced that they would choose Christian Zurita to replace Villavicencio as the party's candidate, reversing their decision on Saturday. about raising this candidate to the position of vice president.
Zurita is also a journalist who worked with Villavicencio.
Although he was officially registered as a candidate for the August election. Although he voted on February 20 on Sunday, he has not yet been authorized by the national election authorities and cannot participate in Sunday's debate.
"We will try to imitate his abilities and we will try to follow his name," Zurita said at a press conference, referring to Villavicencio while wearing a bulletproof vest.
