Because of factors such as business closures and lack of opportunities, it is estimated that criminal activity costs Honduras and El Salvador 16% of GDP, and in the case of Guatemala, its losses could amount to 7% of its production.
In Central America, the human costs of crime remain one of the highest in the world. El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras—referred to as the Northern Triangle— account for about four-and-a-half percent of homicides worldwide despite only having about one-half-percent of the world's population.
The phenomenon affects much of Latin America, whose countries spend on average 8% of their GDP on security costs.
That was the conclusion reached during the forum "Connecting businesses as partners for prosperity with security in the Americas", organized by the Organization of American States (OAS) and the private sector, under the framework of the Guatemala Investment Summit.
While other Central American countries are preparing taxes to combat insecurity, Nicaragua declares that it is not an appropriate option.
The president of Guatemala, Alvaro Colom, proposed to his peers in the isthmus region the creation of specific tax to combat organized crime and the violence it generates.
Although the proposal didn’t prosper at the meeting of the Council of Finance Ministers and Central Finance, both Costa Rica, El Salvador and Honduras are working on the implementation of a national tax for their own security plans.
Widespread corruption, institutional weakness, disputes between countries, and resistance to more taxes, are jeopardizing the chances of success of the plan and its 22 projects.
A summit held in Guatemala, where for the first time since 1856 Central American countries agreed to fight together, culminated in joint action plans to combat drug trafficking.
Firms spent $174 million in security for their businesses in 2009, however in 2010 the expenditure amounted to $190 million.
A study by the Costa Rican Chamber of Commerce reveals that 42% of those surveyed said they had been a victim of violence.
"... We are convinced that the government has not fulfilled its part, ... this has become an obstacle to our development, as insecurity impacts on the competitiveness of the economy," said the Chamber’s president, Arnoldo André , as published by Prensalibre.cr
The funds will be used to strengthen programs to combat organized crime in the country.
The prevention, rehabilitation and strengthening of law enforcement are some of the areas that will be enhanced with the injection of new resources.
The loan, granted by the Inter-American Development Bank, was signed by President Laura Chinchilla in the institution's headquarters in Washington as part of the business tour business that the president is currently taking.
From El Salvador, the US president offered the funds for regional security projects.
Regarding distribution of funds, the president said Central American countries will be the ones deciding how to invest the funds according to their particular needs.
Laprensagrafica.com reported statements from Barack Obama, "It will be a program designed and led by Central American governments in the region ...
Central American businesses demand from governments clear mechanisms to combat insecurity in the region.
The president of the Federation of Private Entities of Central America, Panama and Dominican Republic (FEDEPRICAP), Carlos Amador, said, "Central America is threatened by drug trafficking, gangs and transnational organized crime and to help combat these problems there is an need for a united isthmus."
The tourism sector is one of the most sensitive regarding security, so taking care of it is a priority.
The crime and violence problem in Central America permeates Central American Travel Market 2010, encouraging initiatives such as regional approval of specialized police forces dedicated to the protection of tourism.
As outlined in an article in Prensa.com, Napoleon Duarte, Minister of Tourism of El Salvador, said the subject will be the starting point for the Central American Tourism Council (CCT), and that "the work is to create a communication system between tourist police to enable them to connect, in addition to redesigning policies in order to strengthen crime prevention."
Crime, armed robbery, burglaries and carjackings are part of life for a third of Costa Rican households.
In the 1990s the populations of Central American countries were increasingly being threatened by waves of crime that made family life difficult. Children and young people's activities are restricted, whether by day or night, due to the risk of assaults and thefts of cell phones, school bags and laptops.
Paying for armed custody, satellite tracking and “tolls” to armed gangs are some of the additional costs that must be paid when transporting goods in Central America.
Some transportation companies state that $14.000 must be paid each year in security related costs for a single truck carrying goods within the Central American region.
An executive from a Costa Rican company with regional operations confirmed that they pay an $80 toll to Guatemalan gangs to ensure safe circulation within that country’s capital city.
Executive training for dealing with violent situations seems to be a prerequisite to boarding a plane.
Business opportunities are rarely found across the street. It is no longer easy to find them without traveling, often to places where personal security risks are high. These dangerous places are not thousand of miles away, sometimes it is enough to mistake the route from an office to another within a city, to find ourselves suddenly in no man's land, exposed to kidnap or assault.