Pre-election violence
Another politician was shot dead in Ecuador
08/15/2023 10:36 pm
Another politician dies violently in Ecuador. “Ecuador is experiencing the bloodiest period in its history,” writes presidential candidate Luisa Gonzalez. The incompetent government gave up and the state was “taken over by the mafia”.
Just before presidential elections in Ecuador, another local politician was killed in the northwest of the country. Pedro Briones of former President Rafael Correa’s Revolution Ciudadana (Civil Revolution) party was shot dead in Esmeraldas on the Pacific coast on Monday.
“Ecuador is experiencing the bloodiest period in its history. An incompetent government has abandoned and the state has been taken over by the mafia,” Luisa González, the presidential candidate of Revolución Ciudadana, wrote on the online platform X, formerly known as Twitter. “My solidarity with the family of comrade Pedro Briones, a victim of violence. Change is urgently needed.”
Crime syndicates struggle with smuggling routes
Opposition candidate Fernando Villavicencio was shot dead last week Wednesday after an election campaign rally in the capital Quito. The government blamed organized crime. Ecuador serves as a transit country for cocaine, and many crime syndicates struggle to control trafficking routes.
Villavicencio had announced a crackdown on corruption and crime. In recent weeks, the mayor of the port city of Monta and a candidate for the National Assembly in Esmeraldas have also been shot dead.
Ecuadorians will elect a new president on Sunday. Early presidential and parliamentary elections were necessitated after conservative state leader Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly amid impeachment proceedings against him over corruption charges.
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