Until last year the county of Catemaco had 80 taxis registered, 64 of which were stationed in Catemaco City.
Starting late last year the wonderful Veracruz government issued another 44 taxi licenses for Catemaco.
Most of the drivers of taxis do not own them, because they cannot afford the licenses. Instead, the licenses are owned by well off people and political hacks. By example, the area representative in the Veracruz legislature allegedly owns 20 taxi licenses in Los Tuxtlas.
A license costs approximately 40 thousand pesos. In addition, bribes and tips averaging maybe 150 thousand pesos are collected by the bureaucrats involved.
Apparently all of the state received new taxi licenses, with Veracruz City receiving more than 1000. I would estimate that statewide 10,000 licenses were issued.
Now here is the math:
10 thousand times 150 thousand pesos (average bribes) equals 150,000,000 pesos, that is 12 million US.
The local taxi drivers who used to earn 150 to 200 pesos for a shift are now lucky to make 100 pesos. And they are very sympathetic with the bureaucrats involved who support the current Veracruz governor who will need zillions of pesos for his upcoming presidential campaign.
So, park your car! Take a taxi! Support Veracruz democracy!
