QUITO: Ecuador was under a state of emergency on Thursday after the assassination of a popular presidential candidate just days before an election dominated by concerns over the oncepeaceful country's descent into brutal violence linked to drug trafficking.
Fernando Villavicencio, a 59-year-old journalist and anticorruption crusader, was killed in a hail of machine gun fire as he left a campaign rally in the capital Quito.
His supporters sprinted away or threw themselves to the floor as the shots rang out in the latest episode of shocking violence in the South American country, which has seen its murder rate soar amid bloody turf wars between drug gangs.
Villavicencio had complained of receiving threats, which have also targeted electoral officials in a tense campaign ahead of the snap election on August 20. A popular mayor and aspiring lawmaker have also been assassinated in recent weeks.
President Guillermo Lasso declared a two-month state of emergency, which will allow soldiers to patrol the streets. He had already in July declared targeted states of emergency in some towns gripped by violence.
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