Farmers, merchants and small business owners, especially in Mexico’s provincial towns, have long been at the mercy of criminal protection rackets.
Widespread and difficult for local authorities to curb, extortion has become a fact of life in many communities.
Reports indicate the practice has even affected communities with significant foreign resident populations, including the Lake Chapala area.
President Claudia Sheinbaum has acknowledged that extortion is the one crime her administration has failed to reduce. Registered cases rose by seven percent in the first half of 2025 alone.
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