Guatemala and Ecuador report fatal violence and political deaths

In Guatemala, former Communications Minister Javier Maldonado Quiñónez was found dead from a gunshot wound in Guatemala City. While authorities are investigating the possibility of suicide due to his recent psychological treatment, his death adds to a count of at least ten political figures linked to former President Alejandro Giammattei’s Vamos party who have died under various circumstances.

In Ecuador, a violent shooting in Machala, El Oro province, resulted in three deaths. The attack targeted Tommy Orlando Tenesaca Gómez and his associate Pedro Andrés Espinoza Estrada, while Jaime Fernando Aguilar Plascencia, a former electoral official, was killed as a collateral victim while dining nearby.

Other violent incidents reported across the region include a fatal machete attack in Corrientes, Argentina, during a dispute over a stolen motorcycle; a shooting in Irapuato, Mexico, that killed one man and injured two women; and a stabbing of a motorcyclist in Heredia, Costa Rica, following a road dispute.