Ahead of the presidential elections in Ecuador, an armed attack was carried out in front of a restaurant in Guayaquil city where Otto Sonnenholsner, one of the presidential candidates, was having breakfast with his family. The Ecuadorian National Police stated that the attack took place due to a robbery in a sportswear store close to the restaurant, and five suspects were arrested.

Another presidential candidate, Fernando Villavicencio, was shot to death in a gunfire attack on his vehicle after a political rally in Quito on August 9. Villavicencio had announced one week before the murder that criminal gangs had threatened him.