At least 108 companies have closed in the last two months in Sinaloa, due to a drug trafficking struggle that has generated losses of more than 18,000 million pesos, the Employers’ Confederation of the Mexican Republic (Coparmex) revealed this Monday.
José Medina Mora, outgoing president of Coparmex, reported in a meeting with the media that the high levels of violence have caused the closure of at least 85 companies in Culiacán, the state capital, and 23 more in Mazatlán, a tourist beach, while in other locations They have kept their operation intermittent.
These figures could be higher, since many micro and small businesses have not officially reported their closure, according to the incoming president of the Mexican employers’ association, Juan José Sierra, who will take the reins of the organization as of January 1, 2025.
According to figures from Coparmex, an organization that brings together companies responsible for 30% of the GDP, the economic impact already exceeds 18,000 million pesos, and adds the loss of at least 25,000 formal, informal and even temporary jobs.
Read: Businessmen are worried and others are fleeing for fear of violence in Sinaloa
‘Insecurity, a regression in social development’
Sierra pointed out the insecurity throughout Mexico as “a regression in social development” and warned that the population is being deprived of peace and tranquility.
“It is also a regression in social development because this peace and tranquility that they do not have in Culiacán and in part of Sinaloa does not allow this free movement of people who go to their jobs every day,” he commented.
Both business leaders described that alarming scenes persist in Sinaloa, where gunshots force children to stay away from schools, even with drills to act in cases of shootings.
They ask for postponement of tax obligations
Medina Mora pointed out that Coparmex calls on the authorities to implement urgent measures to mitigate the effects of this crisis.
Among the demands are the creation of financing programs for micro, small and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs), the postponement of tax obligations and a strengthening of public security.
“Businessmen don’t want anything for free, they simply say ‘hey, we need support for SMEs, we need financing.’ I also support postponing some payments because first they want to pay workers’ salaries and they are not asking for debts to be forgiven, but rather for deadlines (to pay),” Medina Mora explained.
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Business leaders emphasized the importance of dialogue and collaboration between the Government, the private sector and civil society.
Sinaloa remains the second state with the most homicides, with 351, in the first two months of the presidency of Claudia Sheinbaum, who took office on October 1.
The Sinaloa Cartel struggle began on September 9 after the arrest in the United States on July 25 of Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López, son of ‘Chapo’ Guzmán, which caused a rupture between the cells of ‘Los Chapitos’ and ‘Los Mayos’.
With information from EFE
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