Ecuador bishops condemn assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio
Fernando Villavicencio, a candidate for president in Ecuador, was shot and killed Aug. 9, 2023, by an unidentified man at a political rally. / Credit: Christian Medina – National Assembly of Ecuador (CC BY-SA 2.0) ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 10, 2023 / 08:30 am (CNA).
The Ecuadorian bishops’ conference on Wednesday condemned the murder of Fernando Villavicencio, 59, a candidate for president in Ecuador.
In a statement, the Ecuadorian bishops expressed their “deep solidarity” with Villavicencio’s family and said: “We also condemn all forms of violence unleashed at different levels of society.”
Villavicencio, who was a presidential candidate of the Movimiento Construye coalition, was shot and killed by an unidentified man while participating in a political rally on Wednesday night.
Through the social media network X (formerly Twitter), Guillermo Lasso, Ecuador’s president, said he was “outraged and dismayed” by the crime and assured that “it will not go unpunished.”
“Organized crime has gone too far, but the full weight of the law will fall on them,” he added.
“We join the initiatives to restore public safety in our beloved country while reaffirming our firm commitment to pray and work for peace based on freedom, justice, and truth,” the Ecuadorian bishops said.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
