Mayor of a Ecuadorian coastal city claims that he survived an assassination attempt ahead of general elections

The Mayor of a coastal city in Ecuador declared on Saturday (August 19) that he was the target of an attempted assassination, a day ahead of the nation’s general elections. This alarming incident comes amidst Ecuador’s struggle with an unprecedented surge in violence and a troubling pattern of attacks against political figures, including the assassination of a presidential candidate.

Francisco Tamariz, the Mayor of La Libertad, a coastal town in Ecuador, used X (formerly Twitter) to recount the events of the previous evening. He revealed that he narrowly escaped harm after assailants fired around 30 shots at his vehicle.

“They tried to kill me,” Tamariz stated, emphasizing that over eight individuals had witnessed the shooting.

Over the last three years, Ecuador has been grappling with an alarming escalation in violence, fueled by its transformation into a significant drug trafficking hub. Local gangs, often affiliated with cartels, are competing for dominance over streets, prisons, and drug routes, resulting in a substantial loss of life.

Luisa González, a prominent figure in the political party and a front-runner in a recent special presidential election, has characterized this surge in violence as the nation’s “bloodiest era.” This recent reported assassination attempt occurs mere days after the death of Pedro Briones, a political leader from the Citizen Revolution party, founded by former President Rafael Correa, on August 15.

Briones’ affiliation with Citizen Revolution was confirmed by González on X. His demise followed the daylight assassination of Fernando Villavicencio, a presidential candidate known for his vocal criticism of organized crime and corruption.

These incidents follow the killing of Agustín Intriago, the Mayor of Manta, Ecuador’s third-largest city, on July 26.

In response to the escalating violence, authorities transferred José Adolfo Macías, also known as Fito, the leader of one of Ecuador’s powerful gangs called Los Choneros, to a maximum-security prison.

These developments are unfolding against the backdrop of a surge in murders in this small South American nation, surpassing the numbers seen in Mexico and Colombia.