The authorities of Ecuador reported this Friday, April 19, that the mayor of a mining town in southern Ecuador was murdered. This is the second homicide of a top municipal authority in three days and on the eve of Sunday's referendum, in which several reforms will be addressed to confront organized crime, including extradition.
First modification:
4 min
A mayor was shot dead this Friday, April 19 in Ecuador. This is the second homicide of a mayor in three days and it occurs in the midst of the “internal armed conflict” that President Daniel Noboa declared since the beginning of 2024 to confront organized crime and on the eve of a referendum proposed by the president that will address issues security keys.
Jorge Maldonado, mayor of the canton (municipality) of Portovelo, in the southern coastal province of El Oro, bordering Peru, was murdered on Friday and his death was confirmed by the Association of Municipalities of Ecuador (AME) in a statement.
According to local media, the attack occurred around 9:20 a.m. local time (2:20 p.m. GMT) this Friday, when armed men shot Maldonado, who was immediately transferred to a medical center, where his death was confirmed.
Maldonado's murder occurred less than 48 hours after the attack against José Sánchez, mayor of Camilo Ponce Enríquez, a municipality located in the southern Andean province of Azuay.
Both municipalities -Portovelo and Camilo Ponce- have in common that there is presence of illegal mining activities in their territories, in addition to being in transit areas towards the Ecuadorian coast, which constitute the main axis of drug trafficking carried out by criminal gangs that operate in Ecuador.
Wave of violence despite government measures
After several massacres and murders were recorded since January despite the state of emergency, which ended on April 8, and the declaration of “internal armed conflict.”
In January, Ecuador officially declared the existence of an “internal armed conflict,” a decision made by President Daniel Noboa in the face of a series of violent events on the streets and in prisons.
Noboa issued a decree that granted greater powers to the military, allowing them to enter prisons and support the Police at the national level.
Despite this, violence has continued.
In March, the youngest mayor of Ecuador, Brigitte García, who at 26 was in charge of the municipality of San Vicente, in the coastal province of Manabí, was also murdered, along with her Communication coordinator. Also under the declaration of the internal armed conflict, the murder of Diana Carnero, councilor of the Naranjal canton, belonging to the coastal province of Guayas, a few kilometers from Camilo Ponce Enríquez, was recorded.
Murders on the eve of referendum that addresses security issues
The murders of the two mayors occur in a crucial week for the Noboa Government.
On Sunday, April 21, more than 13 million people in Ecuador will have to vote in a referendum promoted by Noboa, in which 11 fundamental guidelines are proposed on various aspects of government management, with a particular emphasis on issues such as security, justice, investments and employment.
The first five proposals address possible reforms to the 2008 Constitution, approved during the presidential term of Rafael Correa (2007-2017). The other six questions are related to legislative changes that do not entail modifications to the Magna Carta.
Security issues make up the majority of the eleven questions that make up the consultation, with the aim of giving authorities more tools to combat organized crime.
Among these issues, the proposal that the Armed Forces permanently support the Police in operations against organized crime stands out, without the need to constantly issue states of exception so that they can fulfill that purpose.
Likewise, it proposes increasing the penalties for crimes related to organized crime, including illegal mining, and that those convicted of some of these crimes do not have the possibility of receiving prison benefits, so that they fully serve their sentence in prison.
With these measures, the Noboa Government wants to put a stop to the growing wave of criminal violence that has hit the country in recent years and that has led Ecuador to be among the first in Latin America in homicides, with a rate of 45 percent. every 100,000 inhabitants in 2023.
In recent weeks, the Ecuadorian president has linked acts of violence, including a new prison riot and three massacres, to the holding of the referendum.
We do not negotiate with criminals and we do not give in to people who want to take away our peace.
We are on the eve of a popular consultation and these are not isolated events, it is the work of narcoterrorists and the politicians allied to them. Today more than ever it is important to defend what… pic.twitter.com/gKpPQ4Whij
— Daniel Noboa Azin (@DanielNoboaOk) March 28, 2024
For the president, “they are not isolated events,” as they occurred on the eve of the consultation promoted by the government, and he blamed “narco-terrorists” and their “political allies” for a riot that occurred at the end of March.
With EFE
#Wave #violence #Ecuador #mayors #murdered #eve #key #referendum #crime