Party of assassinated candidate in Ecuador taps a new replacement

QUITO (Reuters) – The political party of Ecuador’s assassinated presidential hopeful, Fernando Villavicencio, on Sunday picked another replacement candidate, reversing itself from its choice just a day earlier.

Villavicencio’s Build party, or Construye in Spanish, told reporters at a press conference in the capital it would now opt for Christian Zurita to replace the slain 59-year-old in the Aug. 20 vote.

On Saturday, the party said its stand-in candidate would be Andrea Gonzalez, an environmental activist who was originally Villavicencio’s vice presidential candidate. Party leaders said she will still run for that post.

An ex-lawmaker and investigative journalist with a track record of exposing corruption, Villavicencio was shot dead last week after leaving a campaign event just as he stepped into a car amid a small group of people that included his own government-provided bodyguards.

Zurita is also a journalist who in the past collaborated with Villavicencio. His candidacy must still be approved by the national electoral council.

“We’re going to try to emulate his abilities and we’re going to try to emulate his name,” Zurita said at a press conference, referring to Villavicencio, while wearing a bullet-proof vest.

He added he will not negotiate with “any mafia.”

Six Colombian nationals have been charged with the murder and remain in custody. Police accuse them of ties to criminal groups.

Ecuador has seen a rising tide of violence in recent years, including a sharp increase in murders in the South American nation of some 18 million.

While ballots for the early election called by outgoing President Guillermo Lasso had already been printed prior to Villavicencio’s assassination, votes for him will automatically transfer to the party’s replacement.

Villavicencio had been polling around the middle of the pack in a field of eight candidates.

(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by David Alire Garcia; Editing by Chris Reese)