Ecuadorian councilor Charbel Rouhana, 50, killed in front of his home in the third execution of a politician in three months
- Councilor Charbel Rouhana was shot in Yaguachi, Ecuador
- Rouhana had attended a meeting and was standing outside his home when the attackers opened fire before fleeing on a motorcycle
- Rouhana, 50, was married to Yaguachi Mayor Viviana Olivares and had one child
A councilor has been murdered while standing outside his home in Ecuador. This is the second death of a local politician in months after a presidential candidate was executed in August.
Charbel Rouhana was approached by two people riding a motorcycle and shot several times in the town of Yaguachi on Tuesday evening, Interior Minister Juan Zapata told The Associated Press.
“Unfortunately, they fired gunshots, assassin style,” Zapata said.
Rouhana’s murder took place just three days after he celebrated his 50th birthday with music and a horseback ride.
Ecuadorian councilor Charbel Rouhana (right) was shot dead in front of his home in the coastal town of Yaguachi on Tuesday evening. No arrests have been reported
Ecuadorian Interior Minister Juan Zapata said councilor Charbel Rouhana was outside his home when two armed men approached him on a motorcycle Tuesday evening and opened fire.
The Public Prosecution Service announced on X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter, that it has opened an investigation into the murder.
No arrests had been reported as of Thursday.
Rouhana fell under the Citizen Revolution Movement, a democratic socialist political party, and won a seat in the Yaguachi municipal council in February.
He is survived by a son from his relationship with his ex-wife, Viviana Olivares, who was elected mayor of Yaguachi in February.
“My heart is broken, how do you tell your eight-year-old son that daddy won’t be here anymore?” Olivares wrote on Facebook. “You leave an indelible legacy in the hearts of all of us who knew you.”
The late Ecuadorian councilor Charbel Rouhana celebrated his 50th birthday on Saturday
Councilor Charbel Rouhana with his ex-wife, Mayor Viviana Olivares, with whom he had an eight-year-old son
Rouhana was a well-known horse lover and highly respected by the livestock industry in Guayas.
Residents of Yaguachi affectionately called him “Doctor Charbel” because of his charity work for the less fortunate.
“We all lose when violence prevails, we all lose when impunity reigns,” Marcela Aguiñaga, former party chair of the Citizen Revolution Movement, wrote on X.
Rouhana’s murder is the latest in a wave of violence against politicians in the South American country.
Two more politicians have been murdered since the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio in August
Mariana Mendieta, the former mayor of the city of Durán in Guayas, was kidnapped on October 5 and found alive three days later.
Bolivar Vera, 42, a councilor in Durán, was found dead on September 8, a day after he was kidnapped.
In July, Manta Mayor Agustín Intriago, 38, was shot dead while inspecting work.
In August, presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, 59, was killed after leaving a campaign event in Quito.
Ecuador is experiencing the worst wave of insecurity in its history, making it one of the most violent countries in the region with a murder rate of 25 per 100,000 inhabitants, i.e. 4,600 deaths in 2022, when the country broke its record. This year, 3,568 deaths have been recorded in the first half alone.