MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Another Ecuadorian politician shot dead

Briones belonged to Revolución Ciudadana of former President Rafael Correa

Ecuadorian politician Pedro Briones of former President Rafael Correa's Revolución Ciudadana (RC) party, was shot dead just days after the killing of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio of the Movimiento Construye.

 

According to local media, two people arrived on a motorcycle at Briones' home and shot him. He was rushed to the Delfina Torres de Concha hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival with two bullet impacts on the left side of his neck.

“Ecuador is living its bloodiest period. This is due to the total abandonment of an inept government and a State taken over by mafias. My solidarity to the family of comrade Pedro Briones, fallen at the hands of violence. Change is urgent!,” said RC's presidential candidate Luisa González on X (formerly known as Twitter).

“Another loss that breaks our souls. A murderous bullet ended his life. until when! Solidarity with his family. For you, my dear compa, we will win,” said former Congresswoman Paola Cabezas Castillo.

In this scenario, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) said that the “political violence” ahead of the Aug. 20 elections was “an attack on democracy” and demanded the State behave “with diligence.”

“The increase in political violence in Ecuador is framed in a context of serious deterioration of citizen security,” the IACHR added regarding Villavicencio's murder “sicariato style” according to local media, during which 9 people were injured.

The murders of Manta Mayor Agustín Intriago and of National Assembly, Rinder Sánchez were also highlighted.

The 59-year-old Villavicencio had 13% of voting intentions and was well-known for having denounced several cases of alleged government corruption. Hours after his assassination last week, National Assembly (AN, parliament) candidate Estefany Puente took a bullet shot in her left arm while she was driving in the city of Quevedo, in the central province of Los Rios.

Ecuador is experiencing an open war between different drug cartels that in recent years have penetrated deep into the political and economic fabric of Ecuador to try to take over the drug export business, which is mainly sent to the United States, Mexico, Europe, and partly to Africa.

According to Ecuador's National Police, there were 3,513 murders between January and June this year, a 58% increase from the same period in 2022.