More than a dozen Guanajuato-based businesses are considering relocating to Querétaro due to violence, according to the head of a business group in the latter state.

“There are companies in Guanajuato that want to come to Querétaro. It doesn’t please us at all but it’s the reality,” said Jorge Rivadeneyra Díaz, president of the Querétaro chapter of the National Chamber for Industrial Transformation (Canacintra), which has fielded requests for information from between 15 and 20 businesses looking to flee the prevailing insecurity.

Rivadeneyra said that large and medium-sized businesses across manufacturing sectors such as auto parts and domestic appliances as well as service-oriented companies have expressed interest in moving their operations from Guanajuato – Mexico’s most violent state in 2019 – to Querétaro. The two states, both part of the Bajío region, are located side by side to the north of Mexico City.

Due to ongoing violence in Guanajuato – where the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel are engaged in a bloody turf war over control of fuel theft and extortion – businesses are now beginning to reach the conclusion that staying put is not viable, Rivadeneyra said.

“They’re saying: ‘if this [situation] isn’t fixed, let’s go to Querétaro,’” he said.

The Canacintra chief expressed regret about the insecurity currently plaguing Guanajuato, which he said is an important contributor to the national economy. He urged authorities to implement strategies that restore security and stability to the state.

“It’s one of the richest states and what’s happening there affects the whole country. … What’s happening is now [the situation] is getting worse. I guess the people of Guanajuato thought that it was temporary but with it not being resolved, there’s … a little bit of anxiety,” Rivadeneyra said.

“I don’t see a thriving Mexico if we don’t resolve [the situation in] Guanajuato. … It’s important that in Guanajuato they study some of the things we’ve done in Querétaro and implement them there,” he said, adding that state authorities need to work on their relationship with the federal government in order to improve security cooperation.

According to the Mexican Employers Federation, businesses in Guanajuato are more likely to be victims of crime than those in any other state. It reported in November that 76% of its member companies in that state had indicated that they had been targeted by criminals in the past year.

The average across Mexico was 65%, while 61% of businesses in Querétaro said that they had been victims of crime at least once within the last 12 months.

Source: El Economista (sp)