The Insecurity has become a nightmare for the “little corner stores” and miscellaneous goods in the country, since four out of every 10 merchants reported having been the victim of some crime, indicated the president of the National Alliance of Small Merchants (Anpec), Cuauhtemoc Rivera.
“The big problem that not only small businesses, but the country, faces is insecurity. The waves of violence are increasingly recurrent and bloodthirsty, which has led to this violence being normalized in many places and people are getting used to living in fear,” he said in an interview with The Sun of Mexico.
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The organism, which represents more than 244 thousand small merchants throughout Mexicopointed out that Among the main crimes that businesses suffer are ant theftextortion, armed robberyrobbery suppliers and the floor charge.
Such is the case of Mauricio -who preferred to omit his real name- told how he has suffered assaults in the last year, which has forced him to close his business earlier.
“The most recent was with one of my employees, She was with her daughter and they also locked her in the bathroom and took everything away. (…) the only thing that allows us is to be able to install security cameras or close earlier,” he shared. Mauriciothat He has been running this grocery store for 20 years.
According to Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System (SESNSP)in the first two months of 2024, 13,355 investigations have been opened for business robbery in Mexico5.3 percent more than in the same period of 2023.
However, The president of Anpec warned that many cases are not reported. He estimated that only half of victims file complaints due to distrust of authorities and fear of retaliation.
Roger, Another of the businessmen who was a victim of robberies, stated that in the last 12 months his business has already suffered three assaultsone of them with violence.
Like many others affected, The businessman considered that reporting is a waste of timesince the authorities do not act efficiently, and the chances of solving the crime are minimal.
“The attitude of the public ministries completely discourages you from pursuing the case“It is a very poor service and I would rather continue attending to my business than waste my time.”
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Baja California Sur, Zacatecas, Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Guanajuato, Querétaro, State of Mexico, Mexico City, Colima and Guerrero are the entities that concentrate the greatest number of business robberiesaccording to data from the Association.
According to the Anpec, More than half of the businesses affiliated with the organization assured that their economic losses have been, at least, 20 percent of what your business generates.