Local authorities had reported the “suspected kidnapping” of city councilor Bolivar Vera on Thursday. A day later, his body was found lifeless in a wooded area in the province of Guayas, a region prey to drug trafficking and violence.
Vera, a member of the right-wing Social Christian Party and only recently elected as a city councilor, was hit by “several bullets, apparently in the head and chest,” police Colonel Paul Villavicencio said. The public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation.
The elections in Ecuador are overshadowed by violence. On August 9, Colombian assassins killed Fernando Villavicencio, one of the candidates in the presidential elections. A mayor, a candidate in the parliamentary elections and another local politician also lost their lives in the campaign.
The second round of the presidential elections will take place on October 15.