La Paz and Santa Cruz will be the simultaneous venues of the International Seminar “Informal Trade against Organized Crime: The challenges of the region against smuggling”, an event that on June 15 will bring together experts from Chile, Peru and Bolivia, together with representatives of the unions business and state authorities.
The event, which will be held at the Hotel Casa Grande in La Paz and at the Cainco auditorium in Santa Cruz, will analyze the transformation that this crime has been undergoing, which in the region is no longer just a simple cross-border crossing of goods made by retailers, to become a crime in collusion with drug trafficking, vehicle theft, human trafficking and other cross-border crimes perpetrated by mafia networks.
As a consequence of these criminal alliances, smuggling is becoming a problem that transcends the serious damage to the economy and is beginning to affect State security.
The clashes between smugglers and the State security forces whose task is to interdict this crime are increasingly violent and, two years ago, have begun to claim the lives of not only military personnel, but also smugglers. in addition to a considerable number of wounded on both sides.
To address this complex problem from different perspectives, the event will feature presentations by representatives of Bolivian business associations, such as the National Chamber of Industries and the Santa Cruz Chamber of Industry, Commerce, Services and Tourism.
The business organizations of the region will be represented by José Pakomio, president of the National Chamber of Commerce, Services and Tourism of Chile and by Silvia Hooker, manager of International Affairs of the National Society of Industries of Peru.
The participation of industrial sectors particularly affected by smuggling is also planned, such as the beer industry, cigarettes and the pharmaceutical sector. will show the negative effects of this crime on the competitiveness of the Bolivian industry from specific examples.
State authorities in charge of combating this crime will present the violent turn that smuggling has taken in recent years in its alliance with organized crime and other cross-border crimes such as drug trafficking, human trafficking and smuggling Vehicle Theft.
