Francisco Tamariz, Mayor of Ecuadorian coastal town of La Libertad on Saturday, August 19, claimed that he was a victim of an attempted assassination, a day before the country begins its general elections.
Addressing his supporters on social media, Tamariz said he escaped unharmed after gunmen fired 30 shots at his vehicle.
‘They tried to kill me,’ he said, adding that more than eight people had witnessed the shooting.
Ecuador has been grappling with an alarming rise in violence, particularly over the past three years, as the nation has transformed into a significant drug trafficking hub.
Local gangs, often with cartel affiliations, are vying for control of the streets, prisons, and drug routes, resulting in thousands of casualties.
Luisa Gonzalez, a prominent figure in the party and the frontrunner in the recent special presidential election, has described this rise in violence as the country’s ‘bloodiest era.’
The recent alleged assassination attempt also comes days after a political leader, Pedro Briones was killed.
Briones was an organiser for Citizen Revolution, the party founded by former president Rafael Correa and his death was confirmed by Gonzalez on X.
Briones’ death also came less than a week after the daylight assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, a vocal critic of organised crime and corruption.
Ecuador will hold a presidential election Sunday after a campaign marked by the murder of a top candidate and vows to tackle the lawlessness that has engulfed the country.
The murder rate has soared above that of Mexico and Colombia, and the assassination of several politicians in the run-up to the vote underscored the challenges facing Ecuador’s leaders.
The most high-profile among them was presidential candidate and anti-corruption crusader Fernando Villavicencio, gunned down in broad daylight as he left a political rally just days ahead of the vote.
