Fernando Villavicencio fatally shot last week after leaving a campaign event in capital, Quito
Villavicencio’s Build party, or Construye in Spanish, announced on social media that Andrea González was replacing the 59-year-old as its presidential candidate in the 20 August vote.
The political party of Ecuador’s assassinated presidential hopeful, Fernando Villavicencio, picked its vice-presidential candidate to replace him on Saturday, just a week before the election.
Villavicencio’s Build party, or Construye in Spanish, announced on social media that Andrea González was replacing the 59-year-old as its presidential candidate in the 20 August vote.
Villavicencio, an ex-lawmaker and journalist with a long track record of exposing corruption, was fatally shot last week after leaving a campaign event in the capital, Quito, despite his government-provided security detail.
She had been selected by Villavicencio to be his running mate in the snap election called by outgoing president Guillermo Lasso.
The South American nation of 18 million has seen a rising tide of violence in recent years, including a sharp increase in the murder rate.
Villavicencio had accused Los Choneros and its leader, Adolfo Macías, whom he linked to Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, of threatening him and his campaign team days before the assassination.