The Mexican state of Tamaulipas is not only hit by drug violence, but also by the scorching heat that is now taken advantage of by criminal groups that invented a new tax that has surprised the inhabitants of the region, which is charged by two cells of the Gulf Cartel: The Cyclones and The Metros.
Since March, families have had to pay a fee for each tree you have on your propertyand that serve to provide shade in this hot spring, according to the newspaper Milenio, which was able to interview three residents who reported this situation.
Two of them live in the municipality of Valle Hermoso and another in Río Bravo, which indicates that this is at the state level and not in a few areas.
“I’m clear about when this happened, because it was the day after my husband’s birthday: March 27th. Some people arrived who said they were from ‘La Empresa’ (Los Ciclones) and told us that, from now on, They were going to charge for the trees in the houses. They forced their way in and they told me four, even a small one that shadows the dog when he falls on the ground,” said one of the affected people.
For the 62-year-old woman, this new extortion is a “right of shadow”, something that until recently was free and one of the few pleasures left to the inhabitants of the hot Mexican region, which is devastated by drug trafficking, migration and poverty.
Now even that simple pleasure in a region hit by intense heat has been taken away from them, and at least enjoy it It would cost them 100 Mexican pesos a month for each tree that they have to mitigate the inclemencies of the sun.
One morning three young people around 20 years old, members of Los Ciclones, came home to report the new tax they had to pay for having something natural that not only provides shade, but also helps provide oxygen.
Obviously, not paying entails a punishment, in this case it is the cutting down of the tree, in the case of her and her husband, who are older adults and do not have the strength to do it, They must pay the hitmen so that they do it.
The trees are written down in a notebook, the hitmen inspected the houses to make sure that the inhabitants were not lying to them about the number they had.
“Here they don’t forgive you for being old. We all pay. Other neighbors pay for the repair of their house, for your car, for the animals. There is none of that respect for old people here: you don’t pay, then they kill you”explained the woman.
Taxes to finance your war
A nephew of the extorted couple is also a victim of this new tax, the man is 32 years old, he lives in Río Bravo, a poor place, where narco taxes are already collected. According to his testimony, he pays for the vulcanizer he has and explained that to the criminals, but they cared little.
In their notebook they wrote down their name, address and the trees they have. “They are obsessed with the war they bring and that good people are worth mothers”, he explained. Although he recognizes that criminals have imagination, because in a place as impoverished as Río Bravo they could only snatch the shade from the trees.
He, like the rest of the inhabitants, knows that wars are won with money, which is why criminal groups invent taxes for everything, only in Río Bravo. 20% is charged for alcohol, cigarettes, chickens, livestock and other foods.
For this reason, he decided that he will do the same as his uncles, he will tear down his trees, he will only keep the one he uses to hang his hammock, so he will not continue fueling a war of which he is not a part, which only harms the inhabitants.
For their part, their uncles will only pay to preserve one oak tree, they will say goodbye to the rest of the trees that they cared for and gave them shade, they trust that one day they will be able to plant others, without this implying a risk of death.
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