Violence in Ecuador flares up again: youngest mayor (27) shot dead from rental car

Violence in Ecuador flares up again: youngest mayor (27) shot dead from rental car | Abroad

The 27-year-old mayor of San Vicente, Brigitte Garcia, has been shot dead in Ecuador, torn by gang violence. Last year, at the age of 26, she was elected the youngest mayor of the South American country.

Garcia campaigned, among other things, for better access to drinking water for the approximately 17,000 residents of San Vicente. Her body and that of a staffer were discovered in a car on a beach near the town on Saturday night, police said. Both had gunshot wounds. According to police, the two were shot at from a rental car.

Garcia belonged to the Citizen Revolution Movement party of former President Rafael Correa – who was granted political asylum in our country – and Luisa Gonzalez, the party’s presidential candidate in the recent elections, reacted with shock. “I just found out that they killed our fellow mayor of San Vicente,” Gonzalez wrote on the social media platform X. “I have no words, in shock, no one is safe in Ecuador, NO ONE.”

In January, the president declared a state of emergency after renewed bloody clashes in gang-controlled prisons

Several politicians killed

Violence in Ecuador is increasing dramatically. Between 2018 and 2023, the number of murders on the streets increased by 800 percent. Last year, 7,800 murders were counted and 220 tons of drugs were seized. Several politicians were also killed. Eleven days before the first round of the presidential elections in August, presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was shot dead in the capital Quito. Police blame drug gangs. Cocaine is smuggled from Colombia, Peru and Bolivia through the port city of Guayaquil to consumers in the United States and Europe.

On January 8, President Daniel Noboa declared a state of emergency after bloody clashes continued to erupt in prisons, partly controlled by gangs. A notorious gang leader escaped from prison, causing gang violence to escalate. Armed men stormed a studio of the television channel TC and took people hostage. Noboa subsequently declared 22 criminal groups terrorist organizations and military targets by decree.

Since then, security services have arrested more than 7,500 people and seized around 65 tons of drugs. The state of emergency was extended for a month on March 8.

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