Organized Crime Blamed for Half of Latin America's Homicides
by Dario Migliorini
22 Dec 2023
Organized crime is responsible for at least half of the homicides in Latin America and the Caribbean, home to the world’s highest regional homicide rate, according to a new study.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) recently published its 4th Global Study on Homicide, which included a section examining how organized crime drives violence in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The UNODC concluded the region had the highest proportion of homicides related to organized crime worldwide. It also found that eight out of 10 countries with the highest homicide rates in the world were located in Latin America and the Caribbean. The average homicide rates, according to statistics from 2021, were 9.3 per 100,000 for South America, 16.9 per 100,000 for Central America, and 12.7 per 100,000 for the Caribbean.
The international anti-crime body found much of the violence is caused by clashing criminal groups with easy access to firearms. It also concluded that harsh government crackdowns have yielded mixed results when it comes to curbing bloodshed.
More:
https://insightcrime.org/news/organized-crime-blamed-for-half-of-latin-americas-homicides/