Andrea Gonzalez, the ex-running mate of assassinated Ecuadorean presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio and now presidential candidate for the Construye party, //AFP
Quito, Ecuador – The running mate of slain Ecuadoran candidate Fernando Villavicencio will run for president in his place in August 20 elections, their party said Saturday.
“The movement will replace the presidential ticket by putting Andrea Gonzalez as president,” the centrist Construye party said in a statement.
Villavicencio, a 59-year-old journalist and prominent anti-corruption crusader, was gunned down as he left a campaign rally in the capital Quito on Wednesday night.
President Guillermo Lasso has blamed the murder on organized crime. Gonzalez, 36, is due to participate in Sunday’s presidential debate in Quito.
