The youngest mayor of Ecuador, Brigitte Garciawas found shot to death early Sunday morning inside a vehicle in the coastal province of Manabí, along with an advisor, police said in a statement, amid a wave of violence attributed to drug trafficking gangs.
The mayor of the San Vicente canton was found dead along with Jairo Loor “with wounds from a firearm impact” and the agents of the criminalistics area carried out “the collection of ballistic evidence,” the police reported through the social network X.
“Our specialized units act in flagrante delicto to establish the modality and motive of the incident,” he said.
Later Sunday, police said the shots came from inside the vehicle, which was a rental, and that they were tracking the vehicle’s GPS system.
García, 27, was mayor of the San Vicente canton and belonged to the former president’s political party. Rafael Correa.
The former president and the president of the party and candidate in last year’s elections, Luisa Gonzalezthey described the incident as a murder in a message on the X platform.
“I just found out that our fellow mayor of San Vicente Brigitte García has been murdered. I have no words, in shock, no one is safe in Ecuador, NO ONE,” said González.
García is the first political figure in the country to be victim of violence after the murder in August Fernando Villavicencioformer presidential candidate and activist journalist critical of corruption, while leaving a rally in Quito.
Ecuador lives in the midst of growing violence that authorities blame on drug trafficking. At the beginning of March the president Daniel Noboa extended a state of emergency in the South American nation, which was initially declared in January after gunmen stormed a television station during a live broadcast.
In a statement, Noboa’s government condemned the killings and said they were working with police and prosecutors to carry out a swift investigation.
The government said it would reinforce security policies until order and peace were achieved for all Ecuadorians.
Source: Ambito
