Crime called major obstacle to Mexico development
 

                  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -- Soaring crime and impunity for criminals are
                  two of the main barriers to economic development in Mexico and especially
                  its chaotic capital, the Mexico City Chamber of Commerce (Canaco) said
                  on Thursday.

                  "What foreign investors are very worried about is the lack of personal safety.
                  The country's (economic) outlook is still OK," Canaco president Jose
                  Antonio Fernandez told journalists.

                  A Canaco survey released Thursday showed that one-third of Mexico City
                  stores suffered a break-in or theft during the third quarter of the year.

                  But fewer than 40 percent of victims surveyed even bothered seeking help
                  from what they see as a corrupt and inefficient police force.

                  "The interviewees said they didn't report crimes to the authorities because of
                  their bad reputation and the certainty that criminals enjoy impunity, which
                  allows them to walk free in short order and take reprisals," Fernandez said.

                  Fernandez added that while 255,000 crimes were reported in Mexico City
                  last year, only 2,400 criminals were jailed.

                  "The judges free them for thousands of reasons that we can never manage to
                  understand," he said.

                  In January a Mexico City judge freed a man who confessed to murdering
                  U.S. real estate broker Peter Zarate while robbing him in a taxi. The judge
                  raised controvery by calling the suspect a "modern-day Robin Hood" upon
                  clearing him.

                  The suspect eventually was rearrested, but another judge upheld his acquittal
                  in June.

                  The Zarate murder brought to international attention a wave of violent crime
                  that has risen in Mexico since a fumbled currency devaluation in December
                  1994 plunged the country into its worst recession in decades.

                  Crime was one of the main campaign issues in the first modern elections for
                  Mexico City mayor last year. The new administration led by Cuautehmoc
                  Cardenas of the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) claims to
                  have made some headway in fighting crime.

                  But CANACO figures show theft and attacks on stores are still rising
                  because official figures only log a minority of crimes that are actually
                  reported, Fernandez said.

                  "Storekeepers often open up more to us than to the authorities," he said.

                  Canaco said 34.2 percent of Mexico City stores it interviewed reported
                  theft or robbery. Only 37.5 percent of victims reported these crimes to the
                  police.

                  Fernandez said one of the main causes of police corruption was low pay,
                  which often prompted police to sell confiscated firearms to criminals.

                  Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.