Sowing fear, violence and confusion seems to be the agenda of political groups and organized crime. But our institutions are paralyzed by this attack. Here, the presidential candidate was killed, and the reaction of the State Electoral Council – supposedly the government of the state – is just a bureaucratic matter, something that is simply handled by applying internal regulations. However, the assassination of the presidential candidate actually means that all the institutions of democracy are in danger. And the same thing happens with the violent events that produce death every day, because deep down terror undermines social coexistence.

‘My heart is broken, how do I tell my 8-year-old son that dad won’t be around anymore?’: Mayor of Yaguachi after ex-partner’s murder

So far, the cases of brutal deaths are unstoppable. And who, in the midst of institutional chaos, is in charge of accompanying the victims? How do you deal with the brutal death of a close family member, whether he was guilty of the crime or not? Those who survive, according to so many testimonies, remain like ghosts, afraid of everything and everyone. In Mario Calabresi’s book, Leaving the Night: History of my Family and Other Victims of Terrorism (Madrid: Libros del Asteroid, 2023), it is said of the criminals that “if they had all been arrested immediately, we would have saved ourselves and others dead.”

Who knows how mothers of young people killed by killers manage to heal their wounds?

There is, therefore, a moral obligation of society towards those who suffer this cruelty. How can the state show a human face to the victims and stay with them, follow them? How does the state help those affected by excessive terror? What happens to the mental health of the victims, to their diet, how do they manage to fill the gaps in which they find themselves after the brutal death of a family member? Do they go to a psychologist or psychiatrist, who pays for these expenses, who helps them? Can there be human rights that do not act as a prop for the sectarian and fanatical left?

The dispute between the Águilas and the Lobos is keeping some neighborhoods of Yaguachi in suspense, where violent deaths are on the rise

This is the time to reflect on the lost opportunities in life, which is the main message that these mass murders bring us. With whom can victims talk about what can be done in the future, about the importance of living again, about the present, about leaving the house without fear? How to find peace after these hasty deaths that break the already weak unity of the family? Are the state authorities fulfilling their duty? Does justice serve? As they remain victims, can their future be ‘normal’? Or are those whose lives have been stolen forever marked?

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How many government actions happen because of ignorance, conformity or bad faith? How do state institutions show sensitivity, how do they help alleviate suffering, how do they support victims to accept pain? Who asks the widow of the murdered policeman how she lived without her husband since then? How are small children without a father? Who knows how mothers of young people killed by killers manage to heal their wounds? According to Calabresa, the state should “take responsibility for the demands of justice, assistance, assistance and sensitivity.” (OR)