Achi news desk-
Ecuador’s youngest mayor, Brigitte Garcia, was found dead alongside her communications director, Jairo Loor, in a car on the side of a road in Manabi state, local police said.
Police revealed that 27-year-old Garcia, the mayor of San Vicente, and Loor were shot to death on Sunday, Fox News reported.
According to a 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.
The national police said they were investigating the deaths further.
The death of the member of former president Rafael Correa’s Citizen Revolution Movement party was called a murder by Correa and Luisa Gonzalez, the party’s presidential candidate in the most recent Ecuadorian election.
“I just found out that they murdered our fellow mayor of San Vicente Brigitte Garcia,” Gonzalez said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“I have no words, in shock, no one is safe in Ecuador, NO ONE,” he 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,” wrote the municipality on X. “Shine forever mayor eternal citizens [Brigitte].”
President Daniel Noboa’s government condemned the killings and promised 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 that authorities have blamed on drug trafficking.
Presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was previously assassinated as he was leaving a campaign event in August, just two weeks before voters went to the polls.
