The Guanajuato State Congress approved the draft decree to reform the Constitution to prosecute extortion extortion, an initiative sponsored by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo.
The Senate sent to Congress the draft decree on extortion, to amend the first paragraph of subsection a of Section XXI of Article 73 of the Political Constitution.
With the reform, the Congress will be able to legislate the General Law against Extortion to create criminal offenses and standardize the fight against extortion in Mexico.
In the first half of 2025, there were 5,887 victims of extortion in Mexico, an increase of 83 percent in the last 10 years, said PRI representative Ruth Noemí Tiscareño Agoitia.
Extortion affects merchants, business owners, and families; With the reform, there will be a more effective fight against it, he said at the start of the first session of the second year of the current legislature.
PAN representative Juan Carlos Romero Hicks criticized the fact that extortion affects the peace, freedom, and dignity of victims, paralyzing economies and sowing fear.
Through extortion, criminal groups seek to gain social and economic control, he lamented.
Mexico has lost ground to criminal groups, and corruption, influence peddling, and the decline of the rule of law allow for the growth of extortion and impunity, maintained PRI representative Alejandro Arias.
He lamented that the black figure for extortion is 97 percent, which means that almost all cases go unpunished.
MORENA representative Carlos Abraham Ramos Sotomayor considered that with the approval of the reform, the State will have a better response capacity.
Extortion is on the rise in Guanajuato; In 2015, there were 10 victims, and by 2024, 1,222 cases were reported, he lamented.
Legislators must provide security forces with tools to combat the extortionists who plague society, said MC representative Rodrigo González Zaragoza.
Source: jornada
