'Dead inside': how extortion ruins lives in Peru

Peru is battling a wave of extortion that has led to bus drivers being murdered and dozens of schools and businesses forced to close for refusing to pay protection money to criminal gangs.Troops have been deployed on the streets of the capital Lima to try to quell the violence. But so far, the crackdown has failed to yield results.Between January and April, police received 9,097 complaints for attempted shakedowns, up 19 percent from the same period in 2024.Three victims of racketeering in Lima spoke to AFP about how they were personally affected:- 'Not the same person' -Gustavo Salazar Yachachin was shot dead in Lima on November 22, 2024 while at the wheel of the bus he was driving for a private transport company.The company, El Rapido, had for weeks been on the receiving end of threats from racketeers.Two hitmen traveling by motorbike took revenge for the company's failure to pay up by killing 45-year-old Salazar Yachachin, the father of a 12-year-old boy."My life ended when they gave me the news that my son had died," his 70-year-old mother Cristina Yachachin, who lives in the working-class district of San Juan de Miraflores, said through tears.

Gustavo had "dreamed of becoming a driver since he was a child," she said."He was a very proper boy, much loved by his family, neighbours and friends."Staring up at a huge picture of her son hanging in her living room, she declared she was "still not the same person" as before his death.At least 19 bus drivers were shot dead nationwide by hitmen in suspected extortion-related killings between September and May, according to Anitra, an association representing transport workers. - 'Dead inside' -At the start of 2025, Marlith Bailon started to receive death threats from an extortion gang, which demanded $3,000 a month in return for allowing her to continue selling clothes in Lima's garment district."If you don't pay up, we will kill you," the messages read.Bailon refused, shut up shop and started selling online.All that remains of her store -- one of more than a dozen in the mall that have closed due to extortion -- is a handful of dresses on a row of mostly empty hangers.The situation had a profound impact on the health of 38-year-old Bailon's health.She said she has shed 10 kilos (22 pounds) due to stress. "I don't feel like doing anything. I'm dead inside," she lamented, adding that she doesn't even dare go to the park near her home to exercise for fear of being attacked.- Explosives in schools -Pitagoras school in the middle-class district of Los Olivos closed for nearly a month this year after a gang demanded the equivalent of over $160,000 from the owners in protection money. The mother of a nine-year-old girl described anxiously waiting to learn when classroom teaching would resume."In several schools, they (gangs) had planted bombs," the 38-year-old, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP, referring to two schools where attackers planted explosives at the gates in May before escaping by motorbike."We didn't know if that would happen here as well. Luckily, it didn't get to that point," the mother added.She pointed to the growing chokehold of extortion gangs on everyday life in Lima."Owners of small street stalls are even being charged" protection money, she said.Some parents transferred their children from Pitagoras to other schools where they believe they will be safer. Those students who remained received psychological counselling. In Peru, more than 500 schools have been shaken down by extortion gangs.Of those, 325 have closed indefinitely, according to the Freedom to Educate collective, an association of private schools.