In Ecuador, a presidential candidate was assassinated. The tragedy is that no one was surprised | Jorge Núñez

Our country is locked in a spiral of killing and violence. We can end this narco nightmare, but the omens are not good

Wednesday's assassination of a presidential candidate is the second high-profile political killing in less than a month in Ecuador. Fernando Villavicencio was killed as he left a political rally - and popular city mayor Agustin Intriago was shot dead while attending a public event only two weeks ago. During Guillermo Lasso's presidency, eight public officials or candidates for office have been killed and several have survived murder attempts.

How can we understand the spiral of political violence in Ecuador? How did Ecuador go from being one of the safest countries in Latin America to being one the most violent countries in the region?

Jorge Nunez is an anthropologist and currently visiting scholar at SUM, University of Oslo

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