The World Briefly

February 08, 2023

Posthumous Victory

Ecuador

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A mayoral candidate in Ecuador, who was gunned down hours before polls opened, won the elections in the western city of Puerto López this week, even as the murder underscores the rising tide of crime in the South American nation, the BBC reported Tuesday.

On Saturday, unknown gunmen killed Omar Menéndez, 41, after breaking into a room where he was meeting campaign workers. A teenager was also killed in the attack.

Police are investigating the possible motive behind the murder. No arrests have been made so far.

A member of Menéndez’s party is expected to take over as mayor in place of the assassinated politician.

Before Menéndez, another mayoral candidate, Julio César Farachio, was shot dead in the coastal town of Salinas. Authorities detained a suspect, who had previously served time on drug trafficking charges and had threatened Farachio.

President Guillermo Lasso condemned the murders.

The municipal elections took place as the country has seen an uptick in crime attributed to the rising influence of violent drug gangs in the Andean country.

Lasso recently proposed a series of constitutional amendments on crime which were put to a vote over the weekend.

One of the changes would allow Ecuadoreans with ties to transnational organized crime to be extradited overseas if they are facing a trial or have already been sentenced in absentia in another country.

Officials said extraditing criminals to maximum security prisons in the United States would help reduce pressure on Ecuador’s overwhelmed justice system.

Still, the proposals were defeated during the vote.

This story originally appeared in the February 08, 2023 newsletter, Tanking Diplomacy.