According to accounts, a mayoral candidate in Ecuador was posthumously elected hours after he was murdered at a meeting with campaign officials.
Omar Menéndez, 41, of Puerto López, was fatally shot Saturday when gunmen entered into a room where he was assembling with colleagues minutes before voting opened, the BBC said.
Just hours after the incident, Menéndez, a Marxist candidate with the Citizen Revolution movement, was elected the city’s mayor. He is scheduled to be replaced by another member of his party.
Additionally, a teen was slain in the attack. The shooting occurred amid a wave of drug-related violence in Ecuador, while the motivation remains unknown.
The news source verified that no arrests had been made, despite the fact that the suspects were spotted escaping on a motorcycle.
In a tweet, Republican President Guillermo Lasso decried the assassination of Menéndez.
He added, “The attempted murder of candidate Omar Menéndez will not go unpunished.”
“We oppose all forms of violence. Illicit drug trade and organized crime have no place in Ecuador.
Two weeks prior to Menéndez’s murder, 45-year-old Salinas mayoral candidate Julio César Farachio was shot and killed.
BBC reports that police have made an arrest in connection with the murder of Farachio. According to reports, the suspect was just released from prison after doing time for narcotics trafficking.
»Posthumous election of a mayoral candidate in Ecuador hours after a murder«
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