Ecuador's youngest mayor, Brigitte García, killed with her advisor amid state of emergency

Jonathan Limehouse
·3 min read
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Ecuador’s youngest mayor and her press officer were found Sunday shot to death in a vehicle amid an ongoing state of emergency, police said.

Brigitte García, the 27-year-old mayor of San Vicente and member of the left-wing Citizen Revolution Party, was found alongside her advisor, Jairo Loor, in the vehicle, Ecuadorian police said in a social media post on X.

Ecuadorian police found the two that morning without vitals and with gunshot wounds, according to the social post.

Handout picture released by the Mayor's Office of San Vicente taken on February 20, 2024, of the then mayoress of San Vicente Brigitte García, speaking during the delivery of agricultural implements in San Vicente, Manabi, Ecuador. The 27-year-old mayoress of coastal San Vicente was found shot to death on March 24, 2024, police said, as the South American country approaches its third month of a state of emergency decreed by the government to crack down on soaring gang violence.

Police said they’re working to figure out a motive for the shooting.

After collecting ballistics evidence and conducting a preliminary investigation, police determined the shots were fired from inside the vehicle.

Investigators continue to analyze the car's route, which appears to be rented, Ecuadorian police said in an X post shared later that afternoon.

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'No one is safe in Ecuador,' Luisa Gonzalez, fellow Citizen Revolution Party member, says

Luisa Gonzalez, a member of the Citizen Revolution Party who ran to become president of Ecuador in 2023, called García’s death an assassination.

“I've just found out they've assassinated our fellow mayor of San Vicente Brigitte Garcia," Gonzalez said in a post on X. “I have no words… no one is safe in Ecuador.”

García’s death comes after President Daniel Noboa issued a nationwide state of emergency in January and declared Ecuador was in a “state of war” against gangs after violence ensued following "internal armed conflict” and the prison escape of alleged "Los Choneros" gang leader Adolfo "Fito" Macías.

Macías' gang is accused of numerous car bombings, kidnappings and murders, NBC News reported.

President Daniel Noboa extends nationwide state of emergency

Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa wears a bulletproof vest and a helmet to verify the results of a police and military operation at the Socio Vivienda neighborhood in Guayaquil, Ecuador on March 26, 2024.
Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa wears a bulletproof vest and a helmet to verify the results of a police and military operation at the Socio Vivienda neighborhood in Guayaquil, Ecuador on March 26, 2024.

Noboa extended the emergency order by an additional 30 days on March 7.

The 36-year-old president who designated 22 gangs as terrorist groups said the extension would help "keep military patrols going in prisons and violent areas of the country, maintain order and reduce homicides," Reuters reported.

During the emergency order, intentional homicides have been halved — dropping from an average of 24 a day to 12 a day, according to the outlet.

So far, the Ecuadorian government confirmed that 1,534 people have been arrested and five “terrorists” were killed during more than 15,000 operations around the state, the Guardian reported.

US citizens advised to 'exercise increased caution' in Ecuador, US Embassy and Consulate says

The U.S. Embassy and Consulate in Ecuador advised Americans abroad to follow "all local laws, including curfew guidance and the requirement for a criminal record check for foreigners entering the country via land border crossings from Colombia or Peru."

“U.S. citizen residents and travelers should continue to exercise increased caution throughout the country, should reconsider travel to areas marked as ‘Level 3,’ and should not travel to areas marked as ‘Level 4’ in the advisory,” according to a U.S. Embassy and Consulate in Ecuador news release.

Three U.S. citizens were murdered in Ecuador in 2022, according to the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs. The data for 2024 and 2023 was unavailable as of Tuesday.

"U.S. citizens should be aware that individuals not connected with criminal organizations may use the current conflict to commit crimes of opportunity," according to the release.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brigitte García, Ecuador's youngest mayor, found shot to death