Mexico City. Extortion or extortion from small businesses is spreading like wildfire across the country, as one in four businesses must pay criminals to work, said Cuauhtémoc Rivera, president of the National Alliance of Small Businesses (Anpec).
In the context of ExpoTrastienda, the leader commented that despite the situation, there is optimism in the sector regarding the arrival of Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo to the presidency, since actions are expected during her governments that will help reduce the levels of this type of criminal acts.
“This issue is like mold, it is something that is affecting the social fabric, and we must not allow it to become normal,” he said.
After mentioning that there are one million two hundred thousand people in the national territory dedicated to commercial businesses such as “small shops”, he highlighted that one in four merchants in the country is a victim of protection money or extortion.
“The most serious thing, beyond what they are charging you, what they are threatening you with, is that we are at a point where Mexican society can accept as an unavoidable fact that you have to pay for working. Nowhere in the world, in any modern economy, do people pay for working, that is to say, charging a floor fee is a despicable, reprehensible tax, we cannot allow it,” he said.
He commented that this type of crime is spreading and occurs in at least two thirds of the country, that is, 22 states of the Republic.
She pointed out that there is not much reporting because victims are very afraid, because “there is a well-founded suspicion that things could get worse for them than with the threat itself.”
He noted that the situation is occurring in Tamaulipas, Veracruz, the State of Mexico, Guanajuato, Baja California Sur, Sonora, Chihuahua, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, among others.
He commented that the criminals who carry out these types of robberies have studied the businesses very well, in order to know how much they will charge each one, so it is not known how much the economic damage will amount to in the profits of the businesses.
However, he indicated that criminals can take up to 20 thousand pesos a month, while the minimum is 2 thousand 500 pesos.
#merchants #pay #extortionists #ANPEC
– 2024-08-10 22:52:51
