Is Ecuador succumbing to gang violence and organised crime?
A state of emergency has been imposed after assassination of presidential candidate.
A presidential contender in Ecuador was assassinated in broad daylight.
Fernando Villavicencio is the third electoral candidate to be killed in Ecuador in a matter of weeks. The former investigative journalist campaigned on an anti-corruption platform, accusing government officials of having links to organised crime.
Ecuador is struggling with rising gang violence and drug trafficking.
The president has declared a state of emergency and deployed the army.
But will it be enough? Have criminal groups taken control of politics?
And was the shooting a message for other politicians?
Presenter: Adrian Finighan
Guests:
Manuela Picq – Professor of international relations at Amherst College and Universidad San Francisco de Quito
Javier Farje – Journalist and Latin American affairs analyst
Grace Jaramillo – Professor at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia and a friend of the late Villavicencio