Mexico City, Nov 15 (EFE).- The president of the Mexican Businessmen's Confederation (Coparmex), Juan José Sierra Álvarez, warned this Friday, accompanied by business leaders from more than 100 cities in the country, that the crime of extortion has 'brought thousands of entrepreneurs to their knees'.
The business leadership's stance came during their National Encounter in the border city of Tijuana, USA, where it was also highlighted that so far this year, Mexico has recorded 8,585 victims of extortion, representing a 5.2% increase.
'Of these victims, 11.8% are in the 43 border municipalities, where the crime grew by 15.2% compared to last year,' Coparmex stated in a press release.
For private sector representatives, extortion, in addition to putting people's lives at risk, is a problem that 'strangles local economies' and shows the 'absence of the State' in the development of a multiplicity of crimes behind extortion, such as 'protection money'.
'These practices have ceased to be marginal to become a structure of economic and political control that defines life in too many territories and economic sectors. We cannot allow the groups operating outside the law to substitute the State, deciding who works, who invests, who opens, who closes, and who leaves,' the executive of the Confederation emphasized.
Regarding the number of victims of this crime, he warned that many cases are not part of the national accumulated total, due to a 'dark figure' caused by 'the lack of reporting, resulting from social distrust due to suspicion of collusion and reprisals'.
To address this national-scale problem, Sierra Álvarez made a 'firm, direct, and responsible call' to the federal government, state authorities, and the country's Congress to 'lead a national strategy against extortion with a state perspective, beyond cycles, parties, and political groups'.
'Mexico needs this crime to be treated with the priority it deserves, with resources equivalent to its economic and social impact,' he concluded.
The Chamber of Deputies of Mexico approved at the end of October, unanimously, the Anti-Extortion Law, which establishes sentences of up to 15 years in prison for the aforementioned crime, which can be reported anonymously.
This proposal, currently under review by the Mexican Senate, was sent by the President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, with the objective of preventing, investigating, and sanctioning this illicit act.
