Unprecedented violence rocking Ecuador claimed the life of another political leader on Monday, bringing there are already three homicides related to politics in the last four weeks, including that of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.
The shooting death of Pedro Briones, a local leader of the Citizen Revolution, the party of former President Rafael Correa, was confirmed by Luisa González, who leads the electoral preferences and is a member of the same party. The homicide occurred in the northern province of Esmeraldas. No further details were available at the moment.
“Ecuador is experiencing its bloodiest time,” González wrote on the X social network, formerly called Twitter. “My solidarity hug to the family of compañero Pedro Briones, who fell into the hands of violence.”
The assassination of Briones, who was a political leader in a rural area of San Mateo de Esmeraldas, came less than a week after the South American country was rocked by the murder in broad daylight of Villavicenciowhich had presented a firm position against organized crime and corruption.
Villavicencio was killed at the end of a political rally in the capital Quito, despite being accompanied by a security team that included police and bodyguards.