Susana Saldaña: ​​“If this situation is not controlled, it could cost Gamarra the end of the year campaign”

Gamarra businessmen ask for changes in the PNP to save the Christmas campaign and regret the statements of President Dina Boluarte regarding a supposed scenario of ‘peace and tranquility’ that the country is experiencing. The leader Susana Saldaña assures that another state of emergency will not be the solution.

—How do businessmen receive this wave of violence?

—The end of year season has already started in Gamarra. Our wholesale campaign will be taking place throughout November in the midst of this chaos and violence caused by both criminals and the lack of action by the authorities, who are directly responsible for this situation in the emporium reaching these limits.

—Have you felt that clients have been scared away and investments have paralyzed?

-Yeah. If this situation is not controlled immediately and urgently, it could cost Gamarra the entire end-of-year campaign. If we cannot sell the wholesale campaign, there will be nothing to help us recover the millions of soles invested.

—What is the main risk you see towards Christmas?

—This campaign is one of our main concerns now. However, more important than this is the safety of business owners, customers and neighbors. Although these problems have occurred in Gamarra checkerboard C, the situation is still calm in checkerboards A and B, where it has not been closed. It is in C where all the problems have arisen and, unfortunately, they have ruined the image of the emporium.

—Why do you notice a special danger for families in this block C?

—Checkerboard A is mainly commercial, it concentrates the largest number of galleries and shops, although there are also workshops and warehouses. Checkerboard B is where the workshops, fabric stores and input distributors are located. In C there are also some clothing workshops, but the food markets that supply the city operate there, as well as schools and homes. It is the area with the largest number of homes.

—Has crime increased in Gamarra?

—The difference is that it has been exposed more on social networks, which is where the situation has gone viral. It has also been more widely distributed through the media that this has been exposed so much. The situation has attracted a lot of attention, coupled with an issue of speculation with videos, which encourages people to panic more. There is a complicated level of violence that we had already denounced, such as the collection of quotas, which is not new in La Victoria and the surrounding areas of Gamarra.

—Precisely, you denounced passivity from the PNP.

-Yeah. It has bothered some sector of the PNP and I regret it, because I have said it in the best way. For example, when we ask for explanations as to why there were no police officers—among other situations—during the assault on a money changer, which occurred in May, we are approached by the current divter of La Victoria (head of the Centro 2 Police Division of Lima, Crnl . PNP José Alvarez) and rebukes with unrepeatable terms. In conclusion? That there is extortion and crime everywhere, and that I am the only one who bothers. That caused us a lot of concern.

—Do the businessmen of La Victoria feel protected?

—The people who have the responsibility of guaranteeing security in three districts cannot express themselves in that way. This lack of foresight gives us the results of now and that is why we have asked for changes, not only from the divter, but from the commissioners of the area, because of what we are experiencing. They have not shown the situation that was occurring or taken any precautions to avoid it.

—And isn’t it also an issue of changes at the council level?

—In all this time we have seen in the municipality of The victory several changes of managers, not only the security one, but these quick replacements do not necessarily work well. In and of themselves, mayors cannot be changed. What is urgent is an immediate change in strategy so that decisions can be made about reality.

—Mayor Cano has proposed a state of emergency.

—Gamarra has ever declared an emergency. In reality, what we are seeing is that in San Juan de Lurigancho it has been decreed and it does not work, just like in other districts. What would be the difference with La Victoria? Is he coming Army to Gamarra? How long are you going to stay and what is the goal? Declarations have not helped before, which in this case must be well planned and with clear results.

—In the midst of this, President Boluarte has declared to foreign media that the country ‘is calm and at peace.’ Doesn’t it make you strange?

—More than strangeness, it causes us concern. We are talking about the president and the statements made not only by her, but also by her ministers, can define the direction of the country. Here, in Gamarra, we do not see where peace and tranquility are. I understand that there is a political discourse that has to go outwards to give confidence to investors, but we must not forget that Peruvian investors, who are 99% mypes, need to see and feel tranquility, not just hear it from their mouths. .

—But you didn’t support Boluarte’s arrival to the presidency?

—From Gamarra Perú we have never come out to give our support or not. What is clear is that after the failed coup d’état, businessmen did express themselves against it and that it was up to the president to take charge of the situation. But there are things that are not being done well, the economic and security issues that are affecting us the most.

—How much is the ‘toll’ in Gamarra?

—A street vendor can pay between S/10 and S/100 per day, and up to S/4,000 per month, depending on the area and the field in which they work. There are businesses of all kinds here: clothing, food, informal groups, etc. It is when the mafias try to charge motorcycle taxi drivers that the problem breaks out.

—The formal ones too.

—There are testimonies from formal businessmen who are trying to charge quotas. We have denounced the collection of these in informal commerce and on the street. There are around 5,000 or 7,000 street vendors in the area surrounding Aviación Avenue and our request is that they be released so that they can begin a formalization process.