By "El Huaso" for Borderland Beat
The Cartel de la Sierra has made several attempts to regulate the market for tortillas over the last two years in Iguala, Guerrero. Most recently, last week, they announced through a barrage of narco messages posted around the city that they are lowering the price of tortillas in order to help out local consumers.
According to local news sources, about 60 of the handwritten messages were posted around the city at various tortilla stores. Proceso reported that the messages caused alarm among some merchants, who shuttered their businesses. These concerns are well founded; for the past several months, many chicken salesmen have been killed by organized crime in the nearby city of Chilpancingo, as reported by Borderland Beat.
These auspicious narco messages occur when high inflation is hurting Mexican consumers, and food insecurity is on the rise. They attempt to establish the criminal group's reputation as a helper of the people, especially when the government has failed to alleviate the effects of economic downturn for many Mexicans.
Despite the reopening of the economy, food insecurity rates are higher now than during the peak of the Covid-19 lockdowns, according the ENSANUT, a government health poll. Part of this is caused by high rates of inflation, which are felt my Mexicans when buying food. In addition to this, organized crime has caused artificial shortages of key staple foods through the targeting of merchants for extortion.
The Cartel de la Sierra, also known as Los Tlacos, is a violent, regional criminal group which operates primarily in the state of Guerrero, in southwest Mexico. They are embedded in the local extortion markets, especially in food staples.
Past Related Events
According to Proceso, this is not the first time the Cartel de la Sierra has interfered in the local tortilla market. In October of 2021, similar messages appeared at tortilla stores around the city. At this time, high inflation and pandemic lockdowns were affecting the economic well-being of many Mexicans.
Sources: El Financiero, Proceso, Noventa Grados, Animal Politico, El Economista, ENSANUT Data
