Another Ecuadorian politician killed, six days ahead of elections

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
15 Aug 2023 08:14

Ecuadoran media cite a local police source as saying that the victim was shot at his home in the town of San Mateo by two men on a motorcycle who later fled.

Pedro Briones, a member of the Citizen Revolution Party and one of the movement's leaders in the province of Esmeraldas (Facebook)

A local politician in Ecuador was killed on Monday, party officials confirmed, less than a week after a presidential front-runner was shot and killed at a campaign rally ahead of this weekend's elections.

Pedro Briones, a member of the Citizen Revolution Party of former president Rafael Correa and one of the movement's leaders in the province of Esmeraldas on the border with Colombia, was killed by unknown gunmen.

"My solidarity with the family of comrade Pedro Briones, new victim of violence," Luisa Gonzalez, one of the main presidential candidates, expressed on X (formerly called Twitter.)

BREAKING: Pedro Briones, local organizer for Citizens Revolution (Left wing party leading in polls) in Ecuador's Esmeraldas province for was assassinated less than a week after presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was murdered. pic.twitter.com/CN8FhnkAUH
— Benjamin Rubinstein (@BenFRubinstein) August 15, 2023

"Ecuador is going through its bloodiest period," considered Gonzalez, a close former associate of Correa. She called the Ecuadorian government incompetent and said the country has been taken over by organized crime gangs.

Correa also his condolences on social media, saying, "They murdered another of our colleagues in Esmeraldas. Enough is enough!"

Neither the police nor the government immediately confirmed the attack but Ecuadoran media, citing a local police source, said the victim was shot at his home in the town of San Mateo by two men on a motorcycle who later fled.

The murder came less than a week after the August 9 killing, in the capital Quito, of one of the presidential favorites, Fernando Villavicencio.

The 59-year-old journalist was on a campaign against corruption and was in second place in the polls when he was shot as he left a campaign rally.

As a journalist, one of his main achievements was to have put former president Correa, who served from 2007-2017, on trial thanks to one of his investigations.

Correa, now living in Belgium, was sentenced in absentia to eight years in the case.

Most of Ecuador has been under a state of emergency and President Guillermo Lasso has blamed organized crime for the killing of Villavicencio.

Six Colombians were arrested as part of the probe into Villavicencio's assassination and one was killed shortly after the attack by the candidate's bodyguards.