Killing of Ecuador candidate deepens country's sense of vulnerability to crime

The brazen assassination of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio at a crowded political rally Wednesday night deepened the country’s sense of vulnerability to the crime that’s spread across the country in recent years.

After multiple threats for his stance against drug trafficking and corruption, Villavicencio was under the watch of police and private security guards. His shooting death has focused global attention on his country’s wave of violent deaths, which began about three years ago, and the connection between organized crime and other powerful interests there.

HOW WAS VILLAVICENCIO THREATENED?

He said during his campaign that he and his team he had been threatened by the Ecuadorian criminal group known as Los Choneros and their leader Alias Fito, whom Villavicencio linked to Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel.

Villavicencio said popular support would protect him,