Key Takeaways
- The shot at incident occurred in Quevedo, targeting Estefany Puente Castro, an opposition politician.
- Ecuadorian authorities reported no injuries and no firearm evidence inside the vehicle.
- The FBI is assisting investigations after the earlier killing of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.
- Election security will be heightened, with the National Electoral Council promising doubled protection for remaining candidates.
Quito: A left-wing Ecuadorian opposition politician running for a parliamentary seat in the country’s National Assembly has come under an armed attack, Ecuadorian media report.
Estefany Puente Castro was attacked in the city of Quevedo, in the Ecuadorian province of Los Rios, on August 10, while driving downtown in a car with her father and a company employee, Ecuavisa TV reported on Friday.
An unknown armed individual approached the car and demanded that Puente stop, Ecuavisa said, citing police reports.
The opposition politician then tried to accelerate and the attacker shot at the car from the driver’s side.
Puente was not injured and no evidence of a firearm having been fired was found inside her vehicle.
The FBI confirmed to Sputnik on Friday that it was sending its agents to Ecuador to assist authorities in investigating the murder of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in Quito.
Villavicencio was shot dead and nine other people were injured during the attack at an election rally on Wednesday. Local media reported that Villavicencio had received several death threats before the incident.
A prime suspect in the assassination died from gunshot wounds received during his arrest, the Ecuadorian General Prosecutor’s Office said, adding that six people were detained in connection with the incident.
Diana Atamaint, the president of the National Electoral Council of Ecuador, said on Thursday that the date of Ecuador’s early presidential election scheduled for August 20 would remain unchanged despite the assassination of Villavicencio. She said the country’s armed forces would guarantee the security of Ecuadorians throughout the planned electoral process, adding that the protection for the remaining presidential candidates would be doubled.
