In Mexico, Drug Cartels Strangle Small Companies and Steal Up to 15% of GDP TheCorner
go to original December 19, 2013

MEXICO CITY - Every year the violence is costing Mexico between 8% and 15% of its national GDP, Health minister Juan López Mercedes recently revealed. A huge cost affecting property damage, medical care, disability rehabilitation, security services and divestments, among others. “It is time to change this paradigm,” López Mercedes says.

The most affected sector by crime and violence is that of small businesses. Up to 40,000 SMEs had to shut down last year unable to pay the continuous extortion and threats from crime gangs, according a to a survey by the National Institute for Statistics (INEGI in its Spanish acronym). Many of those couldn’t afford the “right of soil”, the money a business has to pay to a local crime gang in order to continue operating peacefully. Others were just unable to endure more robberies.

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