The crime of extortion is stipulated in the Law Against Corruption, but the term "extortion," which traditionally identifies this criminal conduct, does not appear anywhere in the law, much less in the heading of Article 67, which is limited to the phrase: "coercion to obtain sums of money." Of course, the provision of this article refers to a public official who, abusing their position, coerces or induces someone to give them money or any other gain or gift. It is a crime whose origin lies in ancient Roman law, so throughout history and in every penal code, this punishable act is known as extortion, and if you use a heading, it is correct to call the prohibited conduct by its name. It is not enough to define this crime with the expression "coercion to obtain money" because it would remain abstract. This offense is distinguished from extortion to avoid confusion with it. Criminal doctrine states that if the threat is only made with the use of private force to obtain an undue profit, there will no longer be a crime of extortion, but rather a crime of extortion because the threat of an act of public authority to obtain the money would be lacking.
In the extortionate conduct of a public official, the fear instilled through public power becomes real and concrete; however, the phonetic expression of extortion seems so innocuous that the esteemed and excellent lawyer Ramón Haddad brought it up in connection with a statement by Cicero, which implied the term's harmlessness, when he accused Gaius Licinius Verres, proconsul of Rome, on trial for the crime of extortion. At that time, the great Roman orator exclaimed: "Verres is not an extortionist, he is simply a thief…!" And Cicero continued: "...he is, in short, the only defendant, as far as memory serves, whom I believe is actually benefited by being condemned."
Extortionists are officials who trample on people's will, but since the term "extortion" is so innocuous, we don't know if being an extortionist means exactly what it means. It comes from the Latin "concutere," and it's logical to think that it first appeared in Roman law. Since then, it has represented the idea of "shaking a tree to make its fruit fall." However, although some authors use a broad sense of the term, the predominant idea is that extortion refers to "fear instilled through public power."
