2023-08-19 13:06:35
– A mayor denounces an assassination attempt against him
The first round of the presidential election – which takes place this Sunday – has already been bereaved by the murder of a candidate.
Posted today at 3:06 p.m.
Francisco Tamariz’s armored car was targeted by two people in civilian clothes who got out of a police vehicle.
A mayor close to former socialist president Rafael Correa said on Saturday that he was the victim of an assassination attempt from which he emerged unscathed, on the eve of the first round of presidential elections in Ecuador, already marked by the murder of a candidate.
“They tried to KILL ME 40 minutes ago, there are more than 8 witnesses”, wrote on Facebook Francisco Tamariz, mayor of La Libertad, a coastal city of around 100,000 inhabitants near the economic capital Guayaquil (south -west).
Former President Correa (2007-2017), a refugee in Belgium and whose candidate Luisa Gonzalez is the presidential favorite, reposted Francisco Tamariz’s message.
The latter then assured that he, his wife and two other relatives had been saved thanks to the fact that the vehicle in which they were traveling, “riddled with bullets”, was armored.
The announcement comes as Ecuador’s presidential election campaign has been turned upside down by the August 9 assassination of one of the main candidates, the centrist Fernando Villavicencio, amid unprecedented violence linked to the booming drug trade. .
Francisco Tamariz then explained on Facebook that on his return from a trip to Guayaquil, around midnight Friday evening, his armored van was targeted by two people in civilian clothes who got out of a police vehicle.
“In a few seconds, they started to riddle the vehicle with bullets (…), they started shooting at us, without ever asking who was in it”, detailed the mayor, in a statement alongside his wife, both wearing bulletproof vests. “If (the vehicle) wasn’t armored, Ecuadorian brother, I wouldn’t be here. It would be impossible for me to talk to you, after the 30 shots (…) that were fired at the van in which I was traveling,” he added.
Violence related to drug trafficking
Ecuador has suffered an unprecedented wave of violence linked to drug trafficking in recent years. Prison massacres have killed more than 430 inmates since 2021. And in 2022, the country saw a record high of 26 homicides per 100,000 people.
During the current campaign, in addition to Fernando Villavicencio, a mayor, a deputy candidate and a local Corrétiste leader have also been assassinated.
The right-wing presidential candidate, Daniel Noboa, denounced Thursday a bullet attack against him, from which he emerged unscathed. The authorities contradicted his version.
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