The data on violence in Mexico is devastating. Organized crime and drug traffickers have become a powerful force in Mexican territory. But not only them, there are also smaller groups that have managed to change even the habits of the rest of the Mexicans (for example, carrying fake mobile phones to distribute these copies during robberies). The violence has made some Mayan ruins inaccessible, and drug traffickers have even hacked internet antennas, allowing citizens to pay them directly.

There is debate over whether giving the military more power will reduce crime, but the data from the Mexican government is devastating. On the other hand, we have a vision of corporations having a brutal time: 13% think organized crime has taken partial or full control of their operations.

Data is devastating. These are the data from the latest Occupational Safety Survey published by the American Chamber Mexico. The country’s Chamber of Commerce has impressive partners such as AES, Amazon, American Express, AT&T, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, HP or FedEx, among other major companies. The new survey found that just over half of the companies are national and four out of ten have more than 1,000 employees. The respondents were senior executives, 26% of whom represent CEOs and 52% of the participants hold management positions.

So when they talk about their own company, they know what they’re talking about, and the numbers are absolutely brutal, as we said:

• Six in 10 companies consider themselves somewhat or very much affected by both mainstream and organised crime.
• The trend from previous years continues, with companies viewing insecurity as an additional operating cost.
• 58% of companies invest between 2% and 10% in security.
• And 8 out of 10 companies provide both physical and technological security courses to their employees. Because yes, cybersecurity is a concern.

Hot spots. Beyond the big picture, the report also includes a number of interesting sections. One of them is that companies are primarily concerned about combating organized crime, with the safety of employees and their families at the top of the list. Almost all sections have seen increases since the 2021 survey, except for concerns about transportation security and cybersecurity.

Another noteworthy point is the sales and distribution of products, which, despite being in last place, has increased compared to the previous period and is perhaps the most striking data in the entire report. 12% of companies believe that organized crime has partial control over the distribution and sales of their products, while 1% believe that this control is complete. This is an impressive figure, and 87% confirm that they are affected in some way, although they do not think that criminals have taken control.

What about the Government? It’s hard to stomach that a company feels like most or all of its business is under the control of organized crime. These are big words when you consider that the companies surveyed represent 21% of the national GDP. Additionally, 81% of respondents indicated a lack of coordination between the different government departments responsible for security.

In El Universal we see Guillermo Bernal, Director General of External Relations and Committees of AMCHAM, confirming that fewer and fewer companies are trying to report situations of insecurity to the Mexican authorities.

No trust in the policeThis lack of confidence in Mexico’s security forces is extremely striking and is linked to the ministry:

• 75% have little or no trust in municipal police.
• 67 percent have little or no trust in the judicial police.
• 29 percent have little or no trust in state police.

Private security. This distrust of authority is causing companies to look for other means of protection. Oddly enough, the report has several advertising pages dedicated to private protection companies, and what we can see in the report is that 59% of them are Corporate Security Departments.

It is a department that responds directly to management in 40% of cases and the areas where the most investment in private security is made are:

Countries most concernedOne of the things the report gives us is data on where companies feel most insecure. This is where most of them are grouped together, and the list is similar to the 2021 one, but with some significant changes:

Perhaps the most striking example is Mexico City, which was in the top three of the list of places of most concern and is now in seventh place. There are also new features such as the state of Guerrero, which was not on the previous list.

And the least ones. On the contrary, these are the places where crimes against companies are currently the least worrying. They are the places where there are fewer large companies compared to the previous list:

Interest in Mexico is fallingAnd all this is pushing some companies to reduce their investments in Mexico. 17% of them have reduced their investments in Mexico in recent years, 9% have moved their activities to safer states (there are also cases of companies leaving the country altogether) and, strikingly, 21% of companies have suspended their activities in some states due to this lack of security.

Undoubtedly, as we said at the beginning of the article, these data do not leave the Government and the police institutions in a good place, because those who think there is insecurity are not the employees of the companies, but the employees of the companies themselves. These are worrying data, considering that Mexico has the potential to be China’s gateway to the United States and that trade could improve if these security problems were solved.

Pictures | AMCHAM, Nación321, JonathanCE15

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