Ecuador’s youngest mayor, Brigitte Garcia, was found dead alongside her communications director, Jairo Loor, in a car at a roadside in the Manabi province, local police said.
Police revealed that the 27-year-old Garcia, the mayor of San Vicente, and Loor were shot to death on Sunday, Fox News reported.
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According to preliminary investigation by the national police, the gunfire apparently came from inside the car, which was rented and had a GPS system inside that was being tracked.
National police said they are further investigating the deaths.
The death of the member of former president Rafael Correa’s Citizen Revolution Movement party was termed an assassination by Correa and Luisa Gonzalez, the party’s presidential candidate in the recent Ecuador’s most recent election.
“I’ve just found out they’ve assassinated our fellow mayor of San Vicente Brigitte Garcia,” Gonzalez said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“I have no words, in shock, nobody is safe in Ecuador, NOBODY,” she wrote.
Garcia’s death was shocking to the Municipality of San Vicente.
“Let us always remember her indomitable spirit, her humanity and her dedication to making the world a better place,” the municipality wrote on X. “Shine forever eternal citizen mayor [Brigitte].”
President Daniel Noboa’s government condemned the killings and vowed to work with authorities to ensure a swift investigation.
Garcia is the latest political figure in Ecuador to be killed amid a wave of violence which authorities have blamed on drug trafficking.
Previously, presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated as he was leaving a campaign event in August, just two weeks before voters headed to the polls.
