The National Electoral Council (CNE) of Ecuador unanimously approved on Wednesday night, August 16, the candidacy of journalist Christian Zurita, ahead of the presidential elections on August 20. Zurita replaces the late candidate Fernando Villavicencido, assassinated on August 9, a fact that shocked the country and the region. Ecuadorians will go to the polls with insecurity and rampant violence among their main concerns.
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“Unanimously and based on the report put to our consideration, we qualify the presidential candidacy of Christian Zurita, sponsored by the Construye Movement to participate in the 2023 early elections in Ecuador,” said the head of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Diana Atamaint, through the social network X, known until recently as Twitter.
The agency said in a statement that “it denied the objection filed against the nomination, since the candidate is not affiliated or adhered to any political organization. Consequently, the qualification of his candidacy was approved, after verifying compliance with the requirements set forth in the current electoral regulations.
Prior to the approval of the candidacy of Zurita, 53, the CNE itself gave free rein to his presidential aspirations by dismissing an appeal filed by the leftist force of former president Rafael Correa, who governed between 2007 and 2017, to prevent his candidacy.
Correísmo claimed that Zurita appeared registered with the center-right Renovación Total (Reto) party and not with Construye, which gives presidential endorsement, for which reason he incurred double militancy. Pointing that was finally dismissed by the electoral authority.
However, Villavicencio’s face will be the one that will appear on the ballots instead of Zurita’s, since the ballots have already been printed, the CNE reported.
“Try to silence us”
Zurita maintained that a document linking him to Reto was false because his signature was not the real one, for which reason he asked the CNE to revoke its validity for the first round next Sunday.
The entity agreed with him and accepted “the annulment” requested by Zurita, according to what Atamaint assured the press.
Zurita’s alleged conflict would have prevented him from being a candidate for power for violation of electoral regulations.
“Correísmo tries to silence us again, confirms its fear of our candidacy,” the Construye Movement, the center party to which Villavicencio belonged, said earlier in X in the intention to vote before his death with 12.5%, for below 24% of the correísta Luisa González, according to the most recent survey by the firm Cedatos.
In this moment of deep sorrow, we come together to honor the memory of Fernando, a passionate and committed leader whose legacy will live on. His tireless dedication to our country and his values will resonate with every step we take toward a better future. #FernandoVive pic.twitter.com/OoAKXsrKta
– christian zurita :. (@christianzr) August 17, 2023
From the port of Guayaquil, in the southwest of the country, Zurita celebrated the CNE’s opinion on Wednesday morning. “We are a few hours away from the official candidacy of Christian Zurita and Andrea González Nader,” he said, referring to his formula for the Vice Presidency.
Also a journalist and critic of Correísmo like Zurita, Villavicencio was shot dead on August 9 as he left a rally in the north of Quito. Authorities detained six Colombian citizens on suspicion of committing the crime. However, the investigations continue and the murder has not yet been fully clarified.
Before the crime, Villavicencio accused the detained leader of the criminal gang ‘Los Choneros’, an ally of the Mexican Sinaloa cartel, of having threatened to kill him.
Wearing a bulletproof vest and helmet and protected by police officers, the now presidential candidate visited the site where his friend Villavicencio was assassinated on Wednesday, August 16.
“In this moment of deep sorrow, we come together to honor the memory of Fernando, a passionate and committed leader whose legacy will live on. His tireless dedication to our country and his values will resonate with every step we take toward a better future.” , stated in X.
“We are the candidate most feared by the mafias”
When he was a member of the National Assembly dissolved in May by President Guillermo Lasso, a measure that gave way to early elections, Villavicencio also filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office against a group of parliamentarians, including correístas, who were apparently involved in a plan to assassinate him.
Construye, who presented Zurita’s candidacy last Sunday, expressed on the X network that “the vile and desperate reaction of Correísmo in all the days after Fernando’s murder, including this challenge, is confirmation that we are the most feared candidacy by the mafias”.
Because he was not qualified as a presidential candidate, Zurita could not participate in the official debate on Sunday, August 13, in which the other seven candidates intervened, since it is mandatory.
Villavicencio, a staunch opponent of correísmo, was an investigative journalist. One of his jobs with Zurita led Correa, who has lived in Belgium since he left power in 2017, to be sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison for corruption.
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