Pedro Briones is the third lawmaker from the South American nation to have been killed previously month
Native celebration chief Pedro Briones was shot useless by gunmen at his residence within the northern Esmeraldas province on Monday in what seems to be the newest in a string of politically motivated assassinations in Ecuador.
The deadly capturing of Briones got here simply 5 days after presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was shot useless in broad daylight within the capital Quito final Wednesday. Villavicencio was in third place within the polls forward of Sunday’s snap presidential election, and was an outspoken opponent of rising ranges of organized crime and corruption within the nation.
“Ecuador is experiencing its bloodiest period,” Luisa Gonzalez, a frontrunner within the August 20 election for the Citizen Revolution celebration of which Briones was additionally a member, wrote on social media. “A heartfelt hug to the household of colleague Pedro Briones, fallen by the arms of violence.”
Gonzalez informed the Related Press that she had beefed up her safety element following the assassinations however refused to put on a bulletproof vest. “I place confidence in God,” she mentioned. “He’s the one who takes care of us.”
Former Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa, founding father of the Citizen Revolution celebration, added: “They murdered one other of our colleagues in Esmeraldas. Sufficient is sufficient!”
Authorities didn’t elaborate on the precise circumstances of Briones’ homicide, however native media reported that he was shot useless by gunmen who later fled on a bike.
Esmeraldas province, located on Ecuador’s border with Colombia, has been one of many worst-affected areas for violence within the nation, as its location on the Pacific coast makes it a pretty location from which to site visitors medicine, notably cocaine, to the USA and Europe.
On July 26, Augustin Intriago, mayor of Ecuador’s third-largest metropolis Manta, was additionally fatally shot simply weeks after his re-election in Might.
Waves of accelerating drug-related violence have led to hundreds of deaths in Ecuador previously three years as native gangs, aided by cartels from Colombia and Mexico, battled for affect and management of the streets and drug-trafficking routes. Insurance policies designed to cut back drug-related violence have dominated the narrative forward of this weekend’s elections.
On Saturday, jail authorities relocated the chief of one in every of Ecuador’s strongest gangs, Los Choneros, right into a most safety facility. Villavicencio had beforehand accused the group’s chief, Adolfo Macias, referred to as ‘Fito’, of hyperlinks to Mexico’s highly effective Sinaloa drug cartel – and mentioned that he had acquired threats to his life from the group simply days earlier than his assassination.
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