Overview
- Local outlets report the body of Virgilio Asto García, a 71-year-old candidate for regidor with the Gota de Esperanza movement, was discovered in a sack abandoned in an irrigation ditch in the El Bosque area of Laredo.
- Radar Informativo and regional press say Asto García’s wife found the remains and identified him, though official investigators have not yet released a confirmed cause of death.
- Reports note the candidate had previously denounced alleged irregular charges at a local alternate toll, but authorities have not established any link between those complaints and his death.
- The Policía Nacional del Perú and the Ministerio Público have opened inquiries and local leaders including Sergio Vílchez Neira have publicly demanded a deep, objective and transparent investigation.
- Media and officials compare the killing to other recent attacks on local political figures, raising fear among communities and increasing calls for faster protective measures and clearer policing of election-related threats.