‘We can’t go on like this’: Ecuador election candidate after shoot-out

Quito, Aug 19 (EFE).- Otto Sonnenholzner, presidential candidate and former vice president of Ecuador, has called for an investigation after a shooting outside a restaurant in Guayas where he was having breakfast with his family on Saturday.

“Thank god we are all fine but we demand an investigation,” Sonnenholzer wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“It pains me to see the fear and powerlessness in the eyes of all those present,” he added. “We cannot go on like this. Tomorrow we change course!”

Ecuador is holding general elections on Sunday, the campaign for which has been marred by deadly violence. Last week, candidate Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated in Quito.

These incidents come amid rising insecurity and violence in the South American nation, for which authorities blame criminal drug trafficking groups.

Last year Ecuador had a rate of 25.32 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, the worst such figure in its history. EFE

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