Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recent shooting of Fernando Villavicendio in Ecuador; and what discussions has he had with his counterpart in Ecuador on maintaining the integrity of the forthcoming presidential elections.

We have been closely monitoring the security situation in Ecuador and the implications of the assassination of Presidential candidate, Fernando Villavicencio, on the current election process. I [Minister Rutley] met the Ecuadorean Ambassador to London on 12 September and discussed security challenges facing Ecuador and the implications for the elections. The UK is committed to supporting Ecuador in ensuring that the upcoming elections take place peacefully and in good faith.