Town elects man mayor day after he's assassinated amid violent crime wave in Ecuador
FEBRUARY 7, 2023 / 12:19 PM / CBS/AFP
Residents of a town in western Ecuador elected a man as their new mayor on Sunday just hours after he was assassinated. Mayoral candidate Omar Menendez took more than 46% of the vote in Sunday's election in Puerto Lopez.
Menendez was fatally shot on Sunday evening, hours before the polls opened, inside an office building by unknown gunmen on motorcycles. A 16-year-old boy was also hit in the attack and died from his wounds.
On Monday, Menendez was buried at the local cemetery after being declared the winner of the election. The regional office of his Citizen's Revolution political party accepted his victory and said another member, Verónica Isabel Lucas Marcillo, would step in to fill the mayor's post on behalf of Menendez.
The slain politician's wife, Génesis Gonzáles, posted a message Sunday on her Facebook page paying tribute to Menendez.
"You taught me to love, learn and keep moving forward. To not be afraid, but you never taught me how to do it without you," Gonzáles said in the post.
More:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ecuador-mayor-elected-day-after-assassinated-omar-menendez-puerto-lopez/
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Published: 07 February 2023
WRITTEN BY VINICIUS MADUREIRA
A mayoral candidate was shot dead just hours before polls opened on Sunday, becoming the second candidate assassinated in an election marred by more than a dozen attacks and threats against political candidates and their associates.
Ecuador Police Riots
National Police of Ecuador troops. (Photo: Rupert Taylor-Price, Flickr, License)
Three other people were injured in the assassination of Omar Menéndez, including a 16-year-old boy who died after being admitted to a local hospital. Menéndez still obtained the largest number of votes in his city.
His party, Citizen Revolution, condemned the murder and requested that Ecuadorian authorities investigate and punish the perpetrators. “It’s unacceptable for the country to continue to bleed,” the party tweeted. “Enough is enough!”
The Electoral Mission of the Organization of American States in Ecuador condemned the murder and also requested a prompt investigation. “Violence has no place in democracy,” the organization said.
More:
https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/17300-ecuador-s-election-marred-by-violence-and-assassinations-of-candidates
