NeceZIHtamos La Lluvia

Until we have a municipal government dedicated less to padding its pockets and more to providing public security with a professional police force that can actually contribute to the efforts of the state and federal governments in the prevention, investigation and punishment of crimes, the local environment is not conducive to attracting businesses here beyond the slimy cartel inmobiliaria, which is where we currently are and why the local environmentalist Alex Serna was murdered.

Decades ago I worked on this idea and managed to attract an engineering firm that designed turbines. They even managed to get local schools to teach the engineering classes to produce the necessary workers. Things were going well, and the business was growing until local extortionists discovered they were making money. And there went that business, as far away from Zihuatanejo as they could get. Nothing of substance has changed since.

This topic has been gnawing at me for years. Just how much violence and lawlessness is there in Zihuatanejo? When I patronage a businesses, I always ask, "Como va el negocio?" I also want to ask something along the lines of have they ever been shaken down by criminals, what we call extortion. I think the term is, "cobra de piso," or, "pasta de piso." However, I don't because I don't want to pry into something that is so raw and private. I also don't want to come across as a nosy and typical gringo who believes that organized crime is rampant in Mexico. One restaurant owner who I became good friends with told me that she had never experienced it.

Businesses, and the employees they hire, and the families they support simply cannot thrive when extortion is rampant. If the authorities don't respond, eventually the populace will organize and create vigilante groups. That is certainly not ideal as the vigilantes rarely can regulate and control themselves. In short, it is a recipe for anarchy and blood letting.