A report by InSight Crime highlights the homicide rate registered in Costa Rica in 2017, which was 12.1 per 100,000 inhabitants, the highest number in its history.
The report indicates that Costa Rica is a country that has traditionally been considered "peaceful," and in respect to the escalation of the homicide rate, an increase that local authorities attribute to organized crime, the report indicates that "... lack of retrospective and a vague methodology is weakening the authorities' attempts to attribute blame to organized crime."
The United States has renewed its travel alert warning that crimes such as extortion, assault and robbery are common in the country.
From a press release issued by the US State Department:
The Department of State warns U.S. citizens to carefully consider the risks of travel to El Salvador due to the high rates of crime and violence. El Salvador has one of the highest homicide levels in the world and crimes such as extortion, assault and robbery are common. This replaces the Travel Warning for El Salvador dated January 15, 2016.
The United States has renewed its travel alert, warning that the levels of violence and crime in the the department of Gracias a Dios are very high.
From a press release issued by the US Department of State:
The Department of State warns U.S. citizens to carefully consider the risks of travel to the Department of Gracias a Dios in Honduras. In addition, the greater urban areas of San Pedro Sula, Tegucigalpa, and La Ceiba have notably high crime and violence rates. This replaces the Honduras Travel Warning dated August 5, 2016.
The most vulnerable to extortion are small and medium enterprises, which employ half of the economically active population.
From the executive summary of a study by Fusades:
In El Salvador, the crime of extortion has become one of the main problems affecting the work and economic activity of enterprises in recent years. Results from the Business Dynamics Survey conducted by FUSADES since 1991, consistently show that micro and small enterprises (MSEs) are more vulnerable to this crime than medium and large ones.
The agricultural sector has denounced that some agricultural companies have closed their operations because of the crime wave affecting the country's rural areas.
From a statement issued by the Chamber of Agriculture:
With the increase of violent acts perpetrated against collaborators of agricultural enterprisesand their private facilities, enterprises which operate and generate employment within the country, we wish to state that:
The IMF has indicated political polarization, high crime and outward migration, rising unit labor costs and high logistics costs, barriers to entry and expansion of business, fiscal uncertainty, and limited human capital.
From a statement issued by the IMF:
The IMF staff team visited San Salvador during April 25—May 6 for the 2016 Article IV consultation and held fruitful discussions with the Salvadoran authorities, parliamentarians, business community, academics, and social partners.
In 2014 the economic cost of violence in El Salvador exceeded $4 billion, while the opportunity cost of production and unmade investment was 4.8% of GDP.
From a press release issued by the Research Network at the Central Bank (REDIBACEN):
Today the Research Network at the Central Bank (REDIBACEN) presented the results of the research report entitled "Estimating the Economic Cost of Violence in El Salvador", carried out by the researcher economists Margarita Penate, Kenny de Escobar, Arnulfo Quintanilla and Cesar Alvarado.
The guild of merchants in Chiriqui has denounced the growing amounts of extortion by organized crime organizations, mainly affecting small businesses in the province.
The Chamber of Commerce of Chiriqui stated that "... among the criminal activities of most concern to informal businesses are links to illicit financing with cash flows in clandestine opportunities, drug dealing, illegal circulation of money and making links with gangs. "
Companies have to allocate up to 15% of expenses to security services, as a result of the growing violence in the country.
A company wishing to operate in Guatemala has to allocate between 8 to 15% of its expenses to security in order to keep operating. The figure was provided by Victor Guillen, manager of purchases, imports and exports at Dagas, and published by Elperiodico.com.gt, who revealed that his company earmarked Q250 thousand ($32,000) per month for the security of its plants, trucks and workers.
The Dutch Development Bank is making its exit from the country official and has suspended commitments and disbursements, including for a hydroelectric project promised for Agua Zarca.
"... Given the current situation, with ongoing violence, FMO decided to suspend all activities in Honduras, effective immediately. This means that we will not engage in new projects or commitments and that no disbursements will be made, including the Agua Zarca project."
The figure is an estimate made by the Intelligence Directorate in Costa Rica released by the US State Department, along with information that indicates a rise in criminal organizations based in the country, and little capacity to combat them.
Money laundering is a criminal activity that handles amounts that are difficult to measure. For example, the report "Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries: 2004-2013" by Global Financial Integrity says that during the aforementioned 10 year period, the flow of illicit money from Costa Rica exceeded $11 billion, that is about $1.1 billion a year.
In the view of the business sector the implementation of a State of Emergency does not guarantee that the problem of insecurity and the escalation of violence affecting the country will be resolved.
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:
Five days after announcing the suspension of operations because of insecurity, Industrias La Constancia has announced the resumption of works at the plant.
From a statement issued by Industrias La Constancia:
San Salvador, March 9, 2016. We appreciate the support and understanding of our customers, consumers, suppliers, contractors and friends during the extraordinary situation which forced us to temporarily suspend operations of Agua Cristal.
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.
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.