In Ecuador, an Assassination Brings a Turning Point

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On Aug. 9, Genevieve Glatsky, a reporter for the Andes bureau of The New York Times, obtained an alarming textual content message: A presidential candidate in Ecuador had been shot and killed on the marketing campaign path.

The textual content, despatched by Julie Turkewitz, the Andes bureau chief, led Ms. Glatsky on a quest to grasp the occasions that resulted within the nation’s newest act of political violence. The candidate, Fernando Villavicencio, was an outspoken critic of the ties between drug trafficking cash and Ecuador’s political institution.

“He was known for being a muckraker and someone who spoke truth to power,” Ms. Glatsky stated in an interview. And his views made him a goal.

Here, Ms. Glatsky, who relies in Bogotá, Colombia, shares her ideas on the primary spherical of Ecuador’s election, held Sunday, and why the assassination is a tragic turning level for the nation. This interview has been edited.

Who was Fernando Villavicencio?

Villavicencio was a journalist, activist and former union chief for the state oil firm. He was identified for exposing corruption in Ecuador’s authorities and had an adversarial relationship with Rafael Correa, who was president of Ecuador from 2007 to 2017 and a divisive determine in politics; Villavicencio obtained loss of life threats after criticizing Correa’s administration and fled to Peru in 2017.

Later that yr, he got here again to Ecuador. There was an arrest warrant out for him, however he was cleared of these prices. He ran for workplace within the National Assembly in 2021 and continued to talk overtly about corruption, mafias and drug trafficking teams. That earned him a variety of enemies, and other people suspect that’s what led to his assassination.

He wasn’t thought-about a high contender primarily based on latest polls, appropriate?

Right. He was polling in the midst of the eight candidates. Luisa González, a candidate representing Correísmo, a political motion made up of Correa supporters, was main the polls. It was anticipated that the assassination would negatively have an effect on González within the polls. (Because of Villavicencio’s criticism of Correa, some Ecuadoreans blamed Correa for his loss of life though there’s no proof of that.) But that didn’t find yourself occurring. Correísmo has a robust base of assist and González nonetheless got here out as the highest candidate with greater than 33 p.c of the vote.

After Villavicencio died, he was changed on the poll by a good friend of his, Christian Zurita, one other journalist. He got here in third with 16 p.c of the vote.

I’m stunned the election wasn’t delayed.

The motive the election was known as within the first place was that President Guillermo Lasso was dealing with impeachment prices. Before the federal government might impeach him, nonetheless, he used this constitutional mechanism known as “muerte cruzada,” which suggests mutually assured loss of life; it calls for brand new presidential and congressional elections and provides Lasso the authority to rule by decree till these elections occur.

That’s why Ecuador is having this presidential election. It’s going to be a brief presidential time period, solely lasting a yr and a half. Then they may maintain one other election.

The head of the nation’s electoral authority stated the election couldn’t be moved due to constitutional and authorized causes.

What has the final week been like for you by way of protection?

I’m working with José María León Cabrera and Thalíe Ponce, native reporters in Ecuador who’ve been interviewing individuals on the bottom. I’ve been working from Bogotá, talking with analysts and looking out on the root causes of Ecuador’s latest violence and the way drug trafficking infiltrated the nation so profoundly.

Polls might be unreliable in Ecuador, so it wasn’t actually clear who was going to win the primary spherical of elections. Daniel Noboa, who got here in second, was an actual shock; he was polling within the single digits a number of weeks in the past. He solely surged within the polls within the week earlier than the elections.

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What can we anticipate from the runoff election?

Voters will resolve between two candidates in October: González, who represents the celebration of the socialist former president, and Noboa, who’s a relative political newcomer. Before the runoff, González will possible attempt to discover voters exterior of Correa supporters. Noboa has the alternative downside. He comes from one of many wealthiest and most well-known households in Ecuador, however as a person and a politician, most Ecuadoreans don’t actually know what he stands for. So he’ll spend these subsequent few weeks attempting to outline himself.