QUITO (Ecuador): Ecuador will hold special elections on Sunday to elect its new president, and police and the military will warn of unprecedented violence, including the murder of a candidate this month.
Notables include friends of President-in-exile Rafael Correa and wealthy lawbreakers with a security background.
Authorities sent more than 100,000 police and soldiers to prevent further violence from the vote. Some Ecuadorians say they will not leave their homes to vote, despite the risk of being fined for not voting.
“I don’t think the election will change anything,” said 28-year-old pharmacist Leidy Aguirre. Over the past three years, she has gradually stopped going out with her friends for fear of being kidnapped.
“Even politicians are not safe.”
Competitor Fernando Villavicencio died on August 9 while leaving the race in Quito, the capital of a quiet South American country. Murders cause people to take a break and fear being kidnapped, robbed, robbed, killed or other crimes.
The Villavicencio assassination is the third and most significant in a series of assassinations against political leaders this year.
Interior Minister Juan Zapata said last week that the only restriction people will face when voting will be backpack checks. Vendors are not allowed near polling stations.
Conservative President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly in May by deciding not to interfere with the state’s oil transport company’s dealings with the company, admitting to the charge that it was irrelevant. Private Tanker Company. He decided not to participate in the special election.
The card was printed before Villavicencio was replaced by another candidate.
It therefore includes the name of the deceased candidate, but is not among the best candidates. In the
elections, the president is lawyer and former representative Luisa González, whose campaign highlighted her affiliation with the party of president Correa, elected in 2020, was convicted of corruption in 2009 and sentenced to eight years of house arrest. Since 2017 he has been living in his hometown of Belgium.
Behind Gonzalez, the only female presidential candidate, are billionaire Jan Topic, whose promises of violence against criminals earned him the nickname ‘Rambo of Ecuador’, and Otto Sonnenholzner, who in third place led some of the country’s response to the epidemic. . President of President Lenin Moreno.
Also competing is Yaku Pérez, an indigenous man who pledged to protect the environment and water resources, and to prevent mining and oil extraction.
To win for sure, a candidate must receive 50 percent of the vote, or at least 40 percent of the vote by a 10-point margin against his nearest competitor. If necessary, presidential elections will be held on October 15. The winner will reign only during Russo’s remaining tenure, which is less than two years.
The electorate also elected a new National Assembly and decided on two elections – one on whether to stop oil extraction in the Amazon rainforest, and the other on whether to allow mining such as gold, silver and copper in the Andean forests. Chocolate around Quito.
In Ecuador, those between the ages of 18 and 64 must vote. Those who do not comply will be fined up to $45.
Six Colombians have been arrested in connection with the shooting of Villavicencio.
The competitors stepped up their safety measures as Perez entered the race on Thursday wearing a bulletproof vest. That same day, Topic fans took a bus to the competition at the Guayaquil Convention Center.
They left their wallets and backpacks on the bus, passed through private security, and entered the gates to work.
