On this episode of THE MODERN MEXICO PODCAST, host Nathaniel Parish Flannery speaks to BLOOMBERG journalist Maya Averbuch about the problem of cargo truck hijacking in Mexico.
Mexico is now considered to be the worst hotspot for cargo truck hijacking with over 100,000 violent in-transit robberies occuring over the last five years. These incidents have resulted in billions dollars of losses over the last decade. Companies including GM, Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart, Amazon, and Philip Morris have all been affected.
Cargo truck hijacking has become a major problem in Mexico.
During President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration, Mexico has a unique opportunity to encourage foreign investment in manufacturing.
Many cities in Mexico are experiencing a boom in new industrial investment. But, foreign executives managing new facilities and operations in Mexico are discovering that Mexico presents some unique challenges when it comes to dealing with organized crime.
According to the Global Organized Crime Index, Mexico is ranked as the world’s third worst country in terms of organized crime.
For the last 20 years the generally accepted explanation has been that organized crime in Mexico typically tries to avoid messing with foreign manufacturing companies.
For the most part, criminal groups have largely avoided kidnapping foreign executives or trying to extort companies operating factories.
But, there is one type of crime that does directly impact foreign companies: cargo truck hijacking.
Many remote stretches of highway in Mexico have become major hotspots for violent cargo robberies.
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On this episode of THE MODERN MEXICO PODCAST, host Nathaniel Parish Flannery speaks to BLOOMBERG journalist Maya Averbuch about the problem of cargo truck hijacking in Mexico.
Mexico is now considered to be the worst hotspot for cargo truck hijacking with over 100,000 violent in-transit robberies occuring over the last five years. These incidents have resulted in billions dollars of losses over the last decade. Companies including GM, Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart, Amazon, and Philip Morris have all been affected.
Cargo truck hijacking has become a major problem in Mexico.
During President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration, Mexico has a unique opportunity to encourage foreign investment in manufacturing.
Many cities in Mexico are experiencing a boom in new industrial investment. But, foreign executives managing new facilities and operations in Mexico are discovering that Mexico presents some unique challenges when it comes to dealing with organized crime.
According to the Global Organized Crime Index, Mexico is ranked as the world’s third worst country in terms of organized crime.
For the last 20 years the generally accepted explanation has been that organized crime in Mexico typically tries to avoid messing with foreign manufacturing companies.
For the most part, criminal groups have largely avoided kidnapping foreign executives or trying to extort companies operating factories.
But, there is one type of crime that does directly impact foreign companies: cargo truck hijacking.
Many remote stretches of highway in Mexico have become major hotspots for violent cargo robberies.
Episode 18: Will Acapulco Recover After Hurricane Otis?
The Modern Mexico Podcast
38 minutes 26 seconds
1 year ago
Episode 18: Will Acapulco Recover After Hurricane Otis?
On this episode of THE MODERN MEXICO PODCAST host Nathaniel Parish Flannery talks to James Frederich, a veteran Mexico correspondent who traveled to the beach city Acapulco to report on the storm damage caused by Hurricane Otis.
While 200 mile per hour gusts of wind buffeted the city, residents and hotel guests cowered inside.
Nearly 250,000 homes were damaged and many beachfront hotels were almost totally destroyed.
Initial estimates calculated that over 80% of the city’s 20,000 hotel rooms had been damaged and that the bill for reconstruction would top sixteen billion dollars.
Mexico’s president, a polarizing populist named Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has faced criticism for his response to the storm.
James gives him an "F" for his initial response to the hurricane.
"In terms of just helping people who needed food and water and medical care there was nothing those first couple of days. At the same time, President Lopez Obrador was playing down the damage and the deaths in Acapulco. I think unequivocally his response was terrible. They were just trying to do PR to make it not look as bad as it was. It was really terrible," James explains.
"The damage I saw in Acapulco was incomparable to anything I’ve seen anywhere else. It was the strongest hurricane to ever hit [Pacific Coast] Mexico [and] one of the strongest hurricanes to hit a city in recorded history. The winds that were recorded in Acapulco as Hurricane Otis was at its strongest, were some of the strongest winds ever recorded on Earth and were certainly the strongest to ever be recorded hitting a city," James adds.
"I don’t want to be pessimistic. It has such tremendous potential. It’s sad to see that not be realized. But, there are huge challenges for [Acapulco] to rebuild. I can’t be confident that it’s going to be back. But, I really hope it does. It’s a beautiful city. The idea that the hurricane was the death blow to it is really tragic to think about," he says.
The Modern Mexico Podcast
On this episode of THE MODERN MEXICO PODCAST, host Nathaniel Parish Flannery speaks to BLOOMBERG journalist Maya Averbuch about the problem of cargo truck hijacking in Mexico.
Mexico is now considered to be the worst hotspot for cargo truck hijacking with over 100,000 violent in-transit robberies occuring over the last five years. These incidents have resulted in billions dollars of losses over the last decade. Companies including GM, Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart, Amazon, and Philip Morris have all been affected.
Cargo truck hijacking has become a major problem in Mexico.
During President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration, Mexico has a unique opportunity to encourage foreign investment in manufacturing.
Many cities in Mexico are experiencing a boom in new industrial investment. But, foreign executives managing new facilities and operations in Mexico are discovering that Mexico presents some unique challenges when it comes to dealing with organized crime.
According to the Global Organized Crime Index, Mexico is ranked as the world’s third worst country in terms of organized crime.
For the last 20 years the generally accepted explanation has been that organized crime in Mexico typically tries to avoid messing with foreign manufacturing companies.
For the most part, criminal groups have largely avoided kidnapping foreign executives or trying to extort companies operating factories.
But, there is one type of crime that does directly impact foreign companies: cargo truck hijacking.
Many remote stretches of highway in Mexico have become major hotspots for violent cargo robberies.
