Ecuadorian councilor found dead amid national state of emergency

Quito, Sep 9 (IANS) Amid a national state of emergency, Ecuadorian councilor Bolivar Vera was found dead on a road in the coastal province of Guayas hours after being kidnapped, his relatives said.

Martha Vera Peralta, sister of the deceased, confirmed his death in a Facebook message on Friday, which Interior Minister Juan Zapata later corroborated, reports Xinhua news agency.

The councilor was kidnapped on Thursday afternoon in the El Arbolito area in the town of Duran while traveling in a vehicle with his nephew.

A car with several armed men intercepted his vehicle and took him by force, according to local media.

His body was found in an empty lot in San Guillermo on the road to Salitre in Guayas, police said.

This adds to surging attacks against Ecuadorian politicians by crime organisations this year, including the assassination of the presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio just ahead of the August 20 general election, which led President Guillermo Lasso to declare a national state of emergency on August 10 for 60 days. 

Over the last few years, Ecuador has seen a spike in violent crime.

Ecuador, a country of approximately 17.5 million people, has recorded nearly 3,568 violent deaths from the start of the year to early July -- an increase of 75 percent over the same period the year prior.

The country already shattered records for homicides in 2022, cataloguing a total of 4,603 violent deaths.

According to statistics released by the national police, that amounted to nearly 12.6 murders per day.