Another Ecuadorian politician was shot dead ahead of the country’s presidential election on Sunday. The leader of the Civic Revolution (RC) party in the province of Esmeraldas, Pedro Briones, was killed in his own home. On August 9, after leaving a meeting with voters, the candidate in the election, Fernando Villavicencio, died.
The leader of the Civic Revolution (RC) party in the northern province of Esmeraldas, Pedro Briones, was killed in his home in the city of San Mateo. According to the police, the perpetrators of the murder are two masked men who, after murdering the politician, fled the crime scene on a motorcycle.
State of emergency in Ecuador PAP/EPA/Jose Jacome
The death of a politician associated with former Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa was confirmed on Tuesday after being taken to hospital.
“Ecuador is in the bloodiest period of its existence,” the candidate wrote on Twitter after the announcement of Briones’ death on Sunday elections presidential elections Luis Gonzalez. The politician blamed the death on “mafias that took control of the state”.
Luisa Gonzalez, a presidential candidate in EcuadorPAP/EPA/Jose Jacome
Assassination of a presidential candidate
Briones is the second death toll in Ecuador’s ongoing presidential election campaign. On August 9, after leaving the meeting with voters Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was shot dead.
A former Ecuadorian journalist who was repeatedly intimidated by “unknown perpetrators” exposed numerous cases of corruption at the top of power in this South American country during the period when Rafael Correa was president of Ecuador (2007-2017).
Ecuadorian presidential candidate shot dead at election rallyReuters
The day after Villavicencio’s assassination, Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso made an announcement in the country state of emergency. The armed forces were mobilized “to protect citizens and the electoral process”
Main photo source: PAP/EPA/Jose Jacome