August 9, 2023

QUITO, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Ecuador presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was killed on Wednesday evening during a campaign event in northern Quito and a suspect in the crime later died of injuries sustained in a shoot-out, authorities said.

Local media reported Villavicencio had been shot, but Ecuador's police and Interior Ministry did not respond to repeated requests for comment about the details of the killing.

"For his memory and his fight, I assure you that this crime will not remain unpunished," President Guillermo Lasso said on X, formerly known as Twitter. "Organized crime have gone very far, but all the weight of the law will fall on them."

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