Assassination exposes Ecuador’s fragility

Democracy does not end in one day. Corruption, autocratic leadership and weak institutions gradually eat away at it. But things can get worse fast, as Ecuadorians learned this week when a presidential candidate was killed in a sicario-style execution.

The assassination of Fernando Villavicencio, 59, on Thursday, exposed the fragility of this endangered South American democracy of more than 17 million people, where drug cartels have made inroads in the last decade. Killings, extortions and kidnappings are on the rise, with no end in sight. Ecuadorians are now living in terror, afraid of leaving their homes.

Ecuador has a presidential election on Aug. 20, but many of its citizens have already lost hope in their country. The latest political assassination only validates their feelings.

Since October, U.S. federal agents have had more than 77,000 encounters with Ecuadorians along the southern border, compared to 24,000 encounters in all of the previous fiscal year, according to Customs and Border Protection. Whenever there is havoc in Latin America, we see it along the border. This exodus is the more reason for the U.S. to help tackle root causes of migration, beyond bolstering border enforcement.

What is happening in Ecuador is the latest sign of a broader problem in Latin America, where political instability threatens countries like Guatemala and Peru, and where autocracies are emerging in other nations, like El Salvador. Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela are already on that path.

Villavicencio was not just any political candidate. He was a journalist and a former legislator who had exposed the corruption of past governments, particularly the Rafael Correa regime, which spanned a decade ending in 2017. Correa was condemned in absentia for a kickback scheme that Villavicencio helped expose. As a legislator and leader of an oversight committee, Villavicencio exposed graft in Correa’s dealings with China and Venezuela.

Ecuador was not supposed to have elections this year, but with an economy ravaged by the pandemic, President Guillermo Lasso, cornered by the Correa-led opposition determined to oust him at any cost, opted to dissolve the National Assembly and call for a snap election. He decided not to run.

While Villavicencio was not favored to win the presidential election, he was vying for the second spot in a runoff that would happen in October if no candidate were to win a majority of votes.

With the economy at a standstill, Mexican drug cartels allied with local gangs are exposing ill-equipped security forces and a corrupt justice system unable to keep criminals behind bars. Meanwhile, Ecuadorian politicians seem more interested in partisan vendettas than in tackling crime.

The country’s independence day was Thursday. Instead of a celebration, there was only sorrow. In his last speech at a political rally in the capital city of Quito, Villavicencio, who already knew he had been threatened by criminal gangs, said: “This democracy has cost us our life.” It was a prophetic statement for Villavicencio and an omen for an entire nation.

—Dallas Morning News Editorial Board/TNS