Candidates for the Presidency of Ecuador close their campaign amid strict security measures

A shooting forces the paralyzation of the caravan of the candidate Daniel Noboa in the town of Durán

MADRID, 18 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The candidates who aspire to the Presidency of Ecuador in the elections next Sunday have delivered their last speeches this Thursday between strict security measures, after the violence has largely marked a campaign in which one of the presidential candidates, Fernando Villavicencio , died shot at the end of a meeting in Quito.

In fact, the final act of one of the candidates, Daniel Noboa, representative of the ADN alliance, has been shaken by a shooting in the town of Durán, in Guayas. The incident occurred with the caravan already underway and Noboa has suggested on social networks that it was an attack directed against him and his team, a hypothesis later denied by the Police and the Government.

The police presence has been a constant in all the acts and several candidates have even launched their latest messages with bulletproof vests, such as the indigenous leader Yaku Pérez, or the journalist Christian Zurita, who replaced Villavicencio as a candidate for the Construye Movement. Zurita, in fact, has delivered his first and last speech as official presidential candidate, since the National Electoral Council (CNE) did not give the green light to his candidacy until Wednesday.

The favorite in the polls, Luisa González, from the Revolución Ciudadana movement --linked to former president Rafael Correa--, has concluded her campaign in Guayaquil promising a "strong hand" against crime and a "hand in solidarity" with the population, according to the newspaper 'Firsts'.

Guayaquil was also the place chosen by businessman Jan Topic to close his campaign, while former vice president Otto Sonnenholzner, who aspires to at least go to the second round, has stressed from Machala the importance of the next president working to combat insecurity in an Ecuador marked by the escalation of violence.

On Sunday, Ecuadorians will choose in early elections the person who will replace Guillermo Lasso, who is not running for re-election, with the uncertainty of knowing to what extent the assassination of Villavicencio will affect the final result. The Ecuadorian Code of Democracy has prevented the dissemination of polls since August 10, one day after the crime.