In Ecuador, the youngest mayor, Brigitte Garcia, and an advisor were tragically discovered shot dead in a car on Sunday. Authorities attribute this violence to drug trafficking, as the country grapples with a concerning surge in criminal activity.
The national police are currently investigating the tragic deaths of Brigitte Garcia, the 27-year-old mayor of San Vicente, and Jairo Loor. Their lifeless bodies were found in the province of Manabi, both bearing gunshot wounds.
#FirstpostAmerica: Ecuador’s youngest mayor Brigitte Garcia was found dead with gunshot wounds in a rented car. The 27-year-old San Vicente mayor’s body was found with that of one of her aides. Garcia is the latest political figure to be killed in Ecuador. | @EKH2016 pic.twitter.com/qbrHtSkpls
— Firstpost (@firstpost) March 25, 2024
Garcia was a member of the Citizen Revolution party, which was associated with former President Rafael Correa.
Former Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa and Luisa Gonzalez, the presidential candidate from their party in the recent elections, described the killing of Brigitte Garcia as an assassination on social media platform X.
Ecuador's youngest mayor, Brigitte Garcia and an aide were shot dead on Sunday, police in the South American country have said
Police added that the pair had both suffered gunshot wounds and that the gunfire had come from within the car, which was rentedhttps://t.co/yc0Ui1Z7mp pic.twitter.com/H1XxMgJmSl
— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 25, 2024
“I’ve just found out they’ve assassinated our fellow mayor of San Vicente Brigitte Garcia,” Gonzalez said in a post.
“I have no words, in shock, nobody is safe in Ecuador NOBODY.”
Brigitte Garcia is the most recent political figure in Ecuador to lose her life, following the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio last August.
Villavicencio, a staunch critic of corruption and organized crime, tragically lost his life while departing from a campaign event just two weeks before the election.
In January, President Daniel Noboa declared a state of emergency in response to a surge in violence. During this period, armed men forcibly entered a TV station during a live broadcast.
Additionally, Noboa designated 22 criminal groups as terrorist organizations. Recently, the state of emergency was extended.
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