“Party Announces Andrea Gonzalez as Replacement Candidate for August 20 Elections Instead of Fernando Villavicencio”
The political party Construye has announced that Andrea Gonzalez, who was the partner of the assassinated presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, will now be the new candidate for the upcoming elections on August 20th in Ecuador. Fernando Villavicencio, who was 59 years old, was killed last week in Quito, the capital, after attending a campaign event. The Construye party, which is in the middle of the political spectrum, made this decision and shared it in a statement on Saturday.
Gonzalez, a 36-year-old person who cares a lot about the environment and hasn’t been in a government job before, was picked by Villavicencio to be his partner in the fast-tracked election that the current President, Guillermo Lasso, arranged.
Even though the voting papers are already made, according to the rules, the votes for Villavicencio will automatically count for the party’s chosen candidate.
“The name of the person running for vice president will be announced very soon. This person will be selected from those who are most trusted and who have shared the same struggles as our friend Fernando Villavicencio,” the party said.
Six people from Colombia, who the police say have connections to criminal groups, have been accused of killing Villavicencio. He used to be a lawmaker and journalist known for uncovering corruption.
All the people who are suspected of being involved in the crime are still being kept in jail. A judge decided on Thursday that they should stay in jail while the police continue to investigate.
On Saturday, the leader of a powerful gang, who is accused of scaring Villavicencio before he was killed, was moved to a very secure prison.
Veronica Sarauz, who was Villavicencio’s wife, talked to the press on Saturday. She said that she blames the government directly for her husband’s murder.
She mentioned, “The government still has to give us many answers about everything that happened.” She said this after coming to the press event with police officers who had guns. She was also wearing a special vest and a helmet to protect herself.
Sarauz didn’t like the party’s choice of Gonzalez as the replacement. She said that the party’s decision to choose Gonzalez seemed random
In a country in South America with about 18 million people, there has been more and more violence lately. The number of murders has gone up a lot.
Before he was killed, Villavicencio was doing okay in the polls. There were eight people running for office, and he was in the middle in terms of popularity.
Besides safety, finding jobs and people moving to different places have become important topics in the election campaign.