Second mayor murdered in Ecuador in less than a week

The mayor of the Ecuadorian canton Portovelo, Jorge Maldonado, died this Friday “a victim of gunshots, reported the Ecuadorian Police. This is the second mayor murdered in the country in just a few days after death by gunshot last Wednesday from José Sánchez, in the Nueva Ponce sector.

“This morning, Jorge Maldonado, mayor of the Portovelo canton, El Oro, was the victim of gunshots that caused his death, while he was carrying out personal activities in the El Oro citadel of Portovelo,” the Police reported through X.

The authorities added that the attack “would have been perpetrated by 2 antisocials” who were traveling on a motorcycle, which would have already been located.

“The Ecuadorian Police immediately deployed operational actions that made it possible to locate an abandoned motorcycle in the Y del Osorio sector, with similar characteristics to the one used in this event and which will be part of the investigative process to clarify the motive and capture those responsible.”

Last Wednesday, the mayor of the municipality of Ponce, a small mining town in southern Ecuador, was also shot dead, at a time when the police and military are carrying out permanent operations to quell what the government calls an “internal armed conflict.” .

In January, the Ecuadorian government declared that the country is suffering from an “internal armed conflict” and ratified it at the beginning of April, allowing the military to carry out joint patrols with the police to counter organized crime groups operating in the country. and that have increased the incidence of all types of crimes such as kidnappings, extortion and others.

Sánchez, 51 years old and a lawyer by profession, took office in Ponce Enríquez in May 2023, the year in which he was the target of two other attacks. The last one occurred in October, when armed men attacked his residence, but he and his family were unharmed.

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