From a statement issued by the National Association of Private Enterprise:

Given the alarming increase in killings and spread of crime throughout the country, the ANEP is joining the call for security of the population and wishes to state:

1. Salvadorans are living a state of despair and anxiety generated by gangs that limit access to their homes and their jobs, threatening their daily lives and their civil liberties.

2. The inability of the security authorities to halt the escalation of violence is evident in light of the proposal to impose a state of emergency, which is no guarantee of a solution to the problem of insecurity which people are experiencing, much less in the absence of a orderly and effective plan.

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Political Uncertainty and Economic Losses

December 2017

Nine days after the presidential elections in Honduras an official winner has still not been announced, and the business sector estimates that the losses caused by looting, violence and paralyzed activities amount to $50 million a day.

Blockades in the main roads of the country, demonstrations, looting of businesses and widespread violence is what can be seen in some areas of Honduras, eight days after the disputed presidential elections. 

El Salvador: Growing Industrial Unrest Due to Insecurity

March 2016

Businessmen have stated their categorical opposition to statements made by a government official that confuse extortion with the funding of organized crime.

The statements by the Technical Secretary of the Presidency of El Salvador, Roberto Lorenzana, against companies in the country that suffer from extortion caused a strong reaction from the private sector, four days after Industrias La Constancia publicly announced that it was suspending operation of its plants because of increasing insecurity and violence.

El Salvador: Increasing Insecurity and Decaying Business Climate

February 2016

Warnings have been given over increased insecurity, stagnation in the fight against corruption, and little capacity for Government dialogue in the second half of 2015.

The adoption of higher taxes without a dialogue, the consequences for the country of the increase in homicides from 10 to 18 a day in 2015, and stagnation in the fight against corruption, were highlighted in the evaluation made by the Salvadoran Foundation for Economic and Social Development ( Fusades) regarding the legal and institutional framework of the country during the second half of 2015.

Central America: Highest Homicide Rate in the World

April 2014

Drug trafficking and gangs are the main factors responsible for intentional murders in the most violent countries in the world: Honduras, Belize, El Salvador and Guatemala.

According to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime at the United Nations (UNODC), in 2012 Honduras recorded 90.4 killings per 100,000 inhabitants.