La Piojera in downtown Santiago has been a lively bar for over a century, drawing locals and tourists with typical Chilean foods, drinks and music, but now its doors are shutting earlier and sales are plummeting as rising crime has strangled the country and the economy. - REUTERS
00:00A Saturday night in downtown Santiago once meant a bustling nightlife.
00:05But the sector has seen a drop in customers amid rising crime.
00:09Jose Tomes Rodriguez is a university student and says he's noticed the change.
00:15Not just me, but everyone around me.
00:17We are changing the routine, like going out earlier, maybe going out in the afternoon.
00:22I think it's something everyone is changing.
00:26Bars and restaurants are closing earlier and sales are plummeting.
00:30Mauricio Gajardo is the manager of a bar called La Piojera.
00:36My sales have dropped by 60%.
00:38At this hour, on a Saturday, I used to be full.
00:42Now at 8 p.m., I'm half an hour away from closing.
00:46Even though the mayor's office has helped me with the municipal guards,
00:49the sector is perceived as dangerous.
00:54And that's all there is to it.
00:55A study by an economic research center at Chile's Universidad Católica estimates Chile is losing an average of 2.6% of its gross domestic product due to rising crime.
01:07Leonardo Hernandez is a professor and one of the authors of the study.
01:10Some sectors, some industries have reduced their operating hours.
01:17For example, restaurants, pubs, all nightlife starts to close earlier because people change their behavior.
01:23People don't go out to eat at night out of fear.
01:26Chile has seen an uptick in murders since 2016,
01:29rising from a low of 2.32 per 100,000 in 2015 to 6.0 in 2024.
01:36The elevated rate is still one of the lowest in Latin America.
01:40But researchers say this makes the economic impact more significant
01:43than a similar rise in more dangerous countries like Colombia or Mexico.
01:46And therefore, carefully seeing this is one of the things that I think is being present in the country.
