BajaNomad

Focus on "protection money" extortions

lencho - 7-8-2025 at 07:11 AM

La Presidenta is bringing this serious problem to the forefront, about time!

Seems hard to combat, but hopefully we'll see...

Article in El País, (Spanish, use your browser's translate function.)

AKgringo - 7-8-2025 at 07:58 AM

When my alternator quit somewhere south of Mulege, I got towed to a mechanic on the north side of Loretto. The mechanic pulled the alternator and took it to a shop a couple of doors down the road to be rebuilt.

Over the next few hours of Spanglish conversations, I learned that both mechanics re-located to Baja from Oaxaca to escape extortion and corruption that was smothering their business there. Safety was their main concern!

Tioloco - 7-8-2025 at 08:03 AM

Claudia is not going to do anything. She and AMLO fostered the cartel growth and don't have the stomach or brain to stop them. Hate to see it but the reality is the Mexican government has been defeated by the cartel.

Seems the only way to break this downward spiral of Mexico's narco takeover is thru outside intervention. And that has been squarely refused by the esteemed leader.

In the meantime, my heart goes out to all of the people of Mexico who have lost their quality of life. It is sad to see the business owners being assassinated for refusing to pay the "piso" but it is happening every day all across the country.

lencho - 7-8-2025 at 08:24 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Tioloco  
...assassinated for refusing to pay the "piso" but it is happening every day all across the country.
It is. :(

I don't know any more than you do about the perps, (you know what they say about opinions) but I suspect it's no longer really a "cartel" issue; with the capture or assassination of so many of the leaders that have maintained discipline and business focus of the major cartels, there are a lot of undisciplined, unorganized independent crooks out to make a living opportunistically preying on their fellow citizens instead of focusing on "import/export".

Even if U.S. invasion were a viable option to take out the big boys, I don't see how it would help with this fragmented, disorganized criminality. More likely to turn into a guerilla situation against foreign invaders, and we've all seen how that turns out.

surabi - 7-8-2025 at 09:11 AM

I've said that for years. There has always been organized crime everywhere, in every country. They should never have started capturing the old cartel bosses, who had some sort of "honor among thieves" and as you say, maintained discipline. They carried out their business, they killed each other, but they didn't mess with the common people, tourists, etc. They didn't kidnap and kill busloads of students, or have shootouts in public places where innocent people got killed in the crossfire. They were considered Robin Hoods of a sort by the common people, whose escapades were immortilized in narco-corridos, which is one reason they thrived.

Putting the old crime bosses out of commission left a void to be filled with violent young punks from the barrios, who grew up in poverty, exposed to violent video games and drugs like meth, that make people crazy, who have no conscience and no code of "honor".

[Edited on 7-8-2025 by surabi]

surabi - 7-8-2025 at 10:47 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Tioloco  
Claudia is not going to do anything.


"When Claudia Sheimbaum Pardo became Mayor of Mexico City 2018, she wanted a new approach to tackling the city’s most pressing problems. Crime was at the very top of the agenda – only 7% of the city’s inhabitants considered it a safe place. New policies were needed to turn this around.

Data became a central part of the city’s new strategy. The Digital Agency for Public Innovation was created in 2019 – tasked with using data to help transform the city. To put this into action, the city administration immediately implemented an open data policy and launched their official data platform, Portal de Datos Abiertos. The policy and platform aimed to make data that Mexico City collects accessible to anyone: municipal agencies, businesses, academics, and ordinary people.

Since the introduction of the open data policy – which has contributed to a comprehensive crime reduction and social support strategy – high-impact crime in the city has decreased by 53%, and 43% of Mexico City residents now consider the city to be a safe place."

https://www.weforum.org/stories/2023/06/how-data-helped-mexi...
"



[Edited on 7-8-2025 by surabi]

digcolnagos - 7-9-2025 at 04:54 PM

Quote: Originally posted by surabi  
Quote: Originally posted by Tioloco  
Claudia is not going to do anything.


"When Claudia Sheimbaum Pardo became Mayor of Mexico City 2018, she wanted a new approach to tackling the city’s most pressing problems. Crime was at the very top of the agenda – only 7% of the city’s inhabitants considered it a safe place. New policies were needed to turn this around.

Data became a central part of the city’s new strategy. The Digital Agency for Public Innovation was created in 2019 – tasked with using data to help transform the city. To put this into action, the city administration immediately implemented an open data policy and launched their official data platform, Portal de Datos Abiertos. The policy and platform aimed to make data that Mexico City collects accessible to anyone: municipal agencies, businesses, academics, and ordinary people.

Since the introduction of the open data policy – which has contributed to a comprehensive crime reduction and social support strategy – high-impact crime in the city has decreased by 53%, and 43% of Mexico City residents now consider the city to be a safe place."

https://www.weforum.org/stories/2023/06/how-data-helped-mexi...
"



[Edited on 7-8-2025 by surabi]


"Sunshine is the best disinfectant."
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