Ecuador presidential hopefuls close campaign clouded by violence

investing.com:

By Alexandra Valencia

QUITO (Reuters) — Candidates vying to be Ecuador's next president held closing campaign events on Thursday, ahead of voting over the weekend in a contest clouded by the murder of anti-corruption candidate Fernando Villavicencio.

More than 13 million Ecuadoreans are eligible to head to polls on Sunday to elect a replacement for conservative President Guillermo Lasso, who called early elections to halt an impeachment process against him.

Candidates have pledged to fight crime and improve the struggling economy, amid sharply rising violence blamed on drug traffickers and unemployment woes, which has increased migration.

«The new government must be more decided and courageous,» said Milton Oleas, a 67-year-old who works in the construction industry, who said he still had not decided who to vote for. «The president cannot doubt what they do and must be valiant in taking decisions.»

Last week, Villavicencio, a former investigative journalist and lawmaker, was gunned down while leaving a campaign event.

Candidates, who have beefed up protections and kept their schedules limited since the murder, held rallies and other events around the country.

Local media reported gunfire had interrupted a caravan held by candidate Daniel Noboa in Duran, in Guayas province. But the national police said on X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, that no attack had taken place.

Noboa himself said there had been an attack — though he did not specify what kind — and that no one was hurt.

Reuters could not independently verify Noboa's account.

Luisa Gonzalez, a protege of former President Rafael Correa, was ahead in opinion polls before Villavicencio's murder, with about 30% of voting intention. There have been no