Ecuador will hold a presidential election Sunday after a campaign marked by the murder of a top candidate and vows to tackle the lawlessness that has engulfed the once-peaceful nation.

The small South American country has in recent years become a playground for foreign drug mafia seeking to export cocaine from its shores, stirring up a brutal war between local gangs.

The murder rate has soared above that of Mexico or Colombia, and the assassination of several politicians in the run-up to the vote underscored the challenge facing Ecuador's leaders.

The most high profile among them was presidential candidate and anti-corruption crusader Fernando Villavicencio, gunned down in broad daylight as he left a political rally just days ahead of the vote.

"These are completely atypical elections, in a situation basically of horror that Ecuador is going through... due to the existing violence, but which manifested itself in a more acute and atrocious way" with Villavicencio's murder, political scientist Anamaria Correa Crespo told AFP.

Soldiers have been deployed across the country to secure the vote, which begins at 7:00 am local time (1200GMT) and closes at 5:00 pm (2200 GMT).



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