Violence marking Ecuador's electoral agenda

Two car bombs exploded in Quito’s commercial district on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, suggesting violence is returning as the presidential runoff approaches.

Local media also reported that three grenades exploded in Quito.

Analysts attribute the violence to local gangs that allied with Mexican drug cartels and warn that the situation could worsen before the October 15 elections, when Luisa González, an ally of former president Rafael Correa, and Daniel Noboa, son of magnate and five-time presidential candidate Alvaro Noboa, will face each other.

“The connection between local gangs and international drug cartels is evident, just as it is evident that in Ecuador, politics is being handled through violence. That is why one can speak of a drug state, in the midst is an invisible and indolent government, unable to react,” political analyst Gustavo Isch told BNamericas.

"In politics there are no coincidences. The country is in chaos," he added. 

On August 9, eleven days before the first electoral round, candidate Fernando Villavicencio, running on an anti-corruption platform, was assassinated in Quito.

Isch claimed that mafias are now marking the country’s electoral agenda, causing citizens to worry more about violence and crime than unemployment and other social issues.

Violence erupted almost at the same time as electoral council CNE announced it would rerun the elections for national and foreign assembly members due to a cyberattack on the electronic voting platform, which could have violated the rights of more than half the voters residing outside the country.

These repeat elections have been criticized but are planned to be held together with the runoff. CNE's decision must still be confirmed by the highest electoral court.