Ecuador’s youngest mayor, Brigitte Garcia, aide shot dead

Ecuador’s youngest mayor, Brigitte Garcia, and her aide, Jairo Loor, were tragically shot dead on Sunday, according to police reports in the South American country.

The bodies of Garcia, aged 27, mayor of San Vicente, and Loor, her communications director, were discovered in Manabi province. Police indicated that both victims had sustained gunshot wounds, with the gunfire originating from within the rented car they were traveling in.

Garcia, a member of the left-wing Citizen Revolution Movement party led by former president Rafael Correa, becomes the latest political figure to fall victim to violence in Ecuador.

The assassination follows the killing of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio last August, who was fatally shot while leaving a campaign event. Villavicencio was known for his outspoken criticism of corruption and organized crime.

In a separate incident in July 2023, Agustin Intriago, the mayor of Manta, was murdered while inspecting a construction site.

Reacting to Garcia’s death, both Correa and Luisa Gonzalez, the party’s presidential candidate in the recent elections, denounced the killing as an assassination on social media.

“I’ve just found out they’ve assassinated our fellow mayor of San Vicente Brigitte Garcia,” said Gonzalez. “I have no words, in shock, nobody is safe in Ecuador NOBODY.”