This is the best summary I could come up with:

Ecuador’s murder rate has surged as local gangs have forged alliances with international crime cartels.

Former president Rafael Correa, who founded the Citizen Revolution Party, wrote: "They murdered another of our colleagues in Esmeraldas.

Police have not yet officially commented on the murder but local media reported that the two gunmen had fled on a motorbike after shooting dead Mr Briones in San Mateo, south of the city of Esmeraldas.

Last month, the mayor of the port city of Manta in Manabí province was shot dead as he was inspecting a public works project.

The highest-profile victim so far has been Fernando Villavicencio, an outspoken journalist who had uncovered corruption scandals and denounced links between organised crime and government officials.

FBI agents arrived in the country from the US on Sunday and have joined forces with Ecuadorean police to investigate Fernando Villavicencio’s murder.

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