QUITO: Ecuador was under a state of emergency on Thursday after the assassination of a popular presidential candidate just days before an election dominated by concerns over the once-peaceful country’s descent into brutal violence linked to drug trafficking.

Fernando Villavice­ncio, a 59-year-old journalist and anti-corruption crusader, was killed in a hail of machine gun fire as he left a campaign rally in the capital Quito.

His supporters sprinted away or threw themselves to the floor as the shots rang out in the latest episode of shocking violence in the South American country, which has seen its murder rate soar amid bloody turf wars between drug gangs.

Villavicencio had complained of receiving threats, which have also targeted electoral officials in a tense campaign ahead of the snap election on August 20. A popular mayor and aspiring lawmaker have also been assassinated in recent weeks.

President Guillermo Lasso declared a two-month state of emergency, which will allow soldiers to patrol the streets. He had already in July declared targeted states of emergency in some towns gripped by violence.

In a social media post, he said he was “outraged and shocked” by the killing he blamed on “organized crime.” “This crime will not go unpunished,” said Lasso.

Lasso also declared three days of national mourning, and other presidential candidates suspended their campaigns.

“This is a political crime ... and we do not doubt that this murder is an attempt to sabotage the electoral process,” said Lasso.

Lasso, who took office in 2021, called the snap election after he dissolved the opposition-dominated Congress in May to avoid an impeachment trial. He is not seeking reelection.

Villavicencio was the second most popular of eight candidates in the presidential race, according to recent opinion polls.

The United States condemned a “brazen act of violence and assault on Ecuador’s democracy.”

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc “stands with Ecuador in its fight against the worsening violence by organised crime.”

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2023