Hato de Enmedio taxi stand emptied due to extortion
The few taxi drivers who are still working are asking for their safety.
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The taxi stand in the Hato de Enmedio-Centro neighborhood in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, is empty after at least 45 drivers decided to leave their jobs due to pressure from extortion, the workers themselves reported on Tuesday.
The group, which once numbered 90 taxi drivers, has been reduced by half due to the fear and violence they face daily.
“We have to risk our lives because we have to feed our families,” said one of the drivers, reflecting the difficult reality faced by those still working in the area.
Another driver pointed out that “criminal structures come out every day asking for money and the truth is that the situation in the country is critical; only the government says that everything is going well and that is not the case.”
The situation has become especially tense after the murder of one of the route’s drivers, which has caused several of his colleagues to decide to retire for fear of suffering the same fate.
The affected taxi drivers are calling on the authorities to provide better security at taxi ranks and to help them deal with the wave of extortion that threatens to wipe out their source of employment.
