Fernando Villavicencio

Ecuadorian politician (1963–2023)

Fernando Alcibiades Villavicencio Valencia (11 October 1963 – 9 August 2023) was an Ecuadorian politician, activist and journalist who was a candidate for President of Ecuador in the 2023 general election. He was a member of the National Assembly from 2017 until his assassination in 2023.

Fernando Villavicencio
Member of the National Assembly
In office
14 May 2017 – 17 May 2023
Personal details
Born
Fernando Alcibiades Villavicencio Valencia

(1963-10-11)11 October 1963
Alausí, Ecuador
Died9 August 2023(2023-08-09) (aged 59)
Quito, Ecuador
Cause of deathGunshot wound to the head
Political partyCoalition Movement (2018–2021)
Pachakutik (1995–2017)

Career

change

Villavicencio was the first to report about detailed security logs on Julian Assange that staff and security guards at Ecuador's UK embassy kept.[1] In 2015, Cynthia Viteri and Villavicencio sent secret documents to WikiLeaks showing that Ecuador was using an Italian company to run a surveillance program that was spying on journalists and political enemies.[2]

During the 2013–2014 National Assembly session, Villavicencio accused President Rafael Correa of having ordered an armed attack at a hospital during a police revolt in September 2010.[3] He was sued by Correa for libel, and Villavicencio was sentenced to 18 months in prison.[3] He traveled to Washington, D.C., to look for help from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, but when he returned to Ecuador, he already had an arrest warrant against him.[3] Instead of turning himself in, he hid in the Amazon region until his sentence expired.[3]

In May 2023, after President Guillermo Lasso's dissolution of the National Assembly, Villavicencio announced his candidacy for President of Ecuador in the upcoming 2023 election.[4]

In September 2022, Villavicencio claimed he had many assassination attempts after his home was allegedly attacked by gunfire.[5]

On 9 August 2023, Villavicencio was shot in the head after finishing a campaign rally in Quito. He was pronounced dead at the scene.[6] He was 59 years old. One of the suspects, Johan David Castillo, who shot Villavicencio was fatally shot by a police force. Nine others were injured in the attack.[7]

References

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  1. Hamilos, James Ball, Paul (1 September 2015). "Secret Memos Reveal Julian Assange's Escape Plans From Ecuador's Embassy". BuzzFeed. Archived from the original on 10 August 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. Glatsky, Genevieve (10 August 2023). "Who Was Fernando Villavicencio?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 10 August 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Villavicencio, Jiménez y Figueroa están bajo la protección de Sarayaku". El Comercio. Archived from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  4. "Fernando Villavicencio, el primer político que habla de una candidatura presidencial tras la muerte cruzada". El Universo. 17 May 2023. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  5. "'They are not going to break me', says Assemblyman Fernando Villavicencio after denouncing attack outside his home". El Universo. 3 September 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  6. "Candidate in Ecuador's presidential election shot dead". BBC. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  7. "Asesina al candidato a la presidencia de Ecuador Fernando Villavicencio" (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 9 August 2023.