Just on the hiring of private security services companies spend $243 million per year, on top of the payments made to those extorting transport carriers on the roads.
These unpunished crimes are not just affecting freight companies operating in the country, but are also increasingly reducing the possibility Guatemala has to attract more and better foreign investment which would contribute to its socioeconomic development.
Companies use up to 12% of their budgets to provide security for their transportation teams.
In an article in Prensalibre.com, Carolina Castellanos, executive director of AmCham, said that the road blockades are causing uncertainty for companies and that it is impacting on the cost of products, causing them to rise.
Other problems of concern to members of the Guatemalan Chamber of Commerce (Amcham) are the major security expenditures made by companies and the lack of national dialogue. According to the executive director of AmCham, institutional weakness prevents agreements from being reached and generates uncontrolled social problems.
After two years with Álvaro Colom as president, Guatemalan businessmen see little advancement in these two areas.
Entrepreneurs do highlight advances in energy and free trade.
"Juan Pablo Carrasco, president of the Guatemalan-American Chamber of Commerce complains that the country has moved backwards in terms of infrastructure development, and has not been able to tackle the insecurity problem.