Ecuador’s youngest mayor, Brigitte Garcia, and an employee were found shot to death in a car early Sunday, police in the South American country said.
The authorities claim that the wave of violence in the country is caused by drug trafficking. National police said they were investigating the death of Garcia, the 27-year-old mayor of San Vicente. Jairo Loor, her communications director, was killed alongside the mayor. Their bodies were discovered in Manabi province. Both suffered gunshot wounds, police said in a statement.
Garcia belonged to former President Rafael Correa’s Citizen Revolution Movement party. Correa and Luisa Gonzalez, the party’s presidential candidate in the last election, called Garcia’s killing an assassination. “I just found out that they assassinated our fellow mayor of San Vicente Brigitte Garcia. I have no words, I am in shock, no one is safe in Ecuador NO ONE,” Gonzalez said in a post.
Presidential candidate assassinated
Garcia is the latest political figure in the country to be killed, according to Reuters. Last August the presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated.
Villavicencio, a vocal critic of corruption and organized crime, was killed while leaving a campaign event two weeks before the election. President Daniel Noboa declared a state of emergency in January amid a surge in violence that saw gunmen storm a television station during a live broadcast. Noboa also designated 22 criminal groups as terrorist organizations.
The state of emergency was extended earlier this month. In a statement, Noboa’s government condemned the killings and said it was working with police and prosecutors to ensure a swift investigation. The government said it will also strengthen public order policies until it achieves safety and peace for all Ecuadorians.
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