In an effort to mitigate the economic impacts of ongoing violence in the northwestern state of Sinaloa, Governor Rubén Rocha handed out more than 5.6 million pesos (US $278,000) in aid to local businesses.
Rocha and state Finance Minister Ricardo Velarde spent Saturday distributing checks to 511 recipients in four municipalities and the cities of Navolato and Culiacán, the state capital, as per the local newspaper Luz Noticias.
According to the regional newspaper Debate, 10,000 pesos (US $500) was granted to businesses employing fewer than 10 employees, while businesses employing more than 10 people were granted 20,000 pesos (US $1,000).
The money comes from the Sinaloa Late Fuerte Program (Sinaloa Beats Strong Program) which benefits from a 65-million-peso (US $3.2 million) emergency fund established in early December to address the sputtering economy. The newspaper El Economista reported that 42.5 million pesos (US $2.1 million) of the emergency fund will be distributed to local businesses affected by the recent wave of violence.
This was the second weekend in a row that Rocha distributed funds from the Late Fuerte program.
Since early September, Sinaloa — particularly Culiacán — has been wracked by violence between warring factions of the Sinaloa Cartel. The fighting began two months after a top drug lord was allegedly kidnapped in Sinaloa by a rival drug lord and flown to the United States where both men were arrested.
En el Informe Diario sobre la incidencia delictiva en #Sinaloa tras el inicio de la ola de violencia, este lunes reporta que durante la semana anterior, con 42 homicidios registrados, se estabilizó en un promedio de seis asesinatos diarios
👉🏼 https://t.co/Su0B1oiuVD pic.twitter.com/9Bso5WhKZw— Noroeste (@noroestemx) December 16, 2024
President Claudia Sheinbaum last week blamed the U.S. government for the ensuing violence, though U.S. authorities have insisted they were not involved in the kidnapping.
According to a report published by the Sinaloa Attorney General’s Office, more than 500 murders have been reported through Nov. 30. At least 20 additional killings have been reported since then, 72 in all through the first two weeks of December. Included among the victims are at least 14 soldiers, the news site Infobae reported.
Additionally, more than 500 people have been disappeared since the fighting broke out on Sept. 9.
According to the Confederation of National Chambers of Trade, Service and Tourism (Concanaco Servytur), the ensuing violence has cost the state economy roughly 18 billion pesos (US $893 million) during the past three-and-a-half months.
Many local Sinaloa businesses have shuttered their doors or reduced their hours of operation dramatically. Concanaco Servytur speculates that job losses in Culiacán have reached 10% since the violence began.
With reports from Luz Noticias, Excelsior, El CEO, El Sol de Sinaloa, El Economista and Debate
