[:RU]The city of San Pedro Sula in Honduras, with a homicide rate of 169 per 100,000 people in 2011, has been named the most violent city on Earth. “Satan himself lives here in San Pedro,” this is how the authoritative publication The Guardian described the state of affairs in the city. “People are killed by people like ordinary chickens.” Although violent homicide rates have been steadily declining in countries such as El Salvador and Guatemala, their neighboring country, Honduras, has seen homicide rates rise sharply over the past few years.
The arms trade and drugs have flooded the country, causing high levels of banditry. Lax gun laws (civilians can own up to five types of firearms), corruption and poverty make life in San Pedro Sula unbearable.
Prisoners in Honduras are held in 24 prisons throughout the country.
In 2008, San Pedro Sula saw an increase in murder rates and mass graves.
In 2009, a military coup overthrew former President Manuel Zelaya, which only caused more problems and tensions in the political environment.
In a shocking incident in 2010, 18 people were killed in a shoe store during a gang war between warring factions. Photo shows police searching for weapons the next day.
Police and soldiers stand around a man who was stopped during a random weapons search in Tegucigalpa on September 9, 2010.
Six journalists in Honduras died in the first four months of 2010, including TV presenter Jorge Orellana, who was shot in the head.
The police cannot provide security at airports. Six people died in mass shootings by unknown assailants at Ramon Villeda Morales International Airport in 2011. Passengers walk past soldiers at San Pedro Sula International Airport, July 5, 2009.
Honduras plays an increasingly important role in the drug trade. For example, in San Pedro Sula, police discovered a cocaine laboratory in 2011.
More than half of all cocaine seized in Central America originates in El Salvador and Honduras. Military police guard a house where drugs were seized in San Pedro Sula in 2012.
One of the most dangerous criminal groups is the Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13, organized by prisoners in California in the 80s.
Even in prisons, the war between factions does not stop. At least 14 prisoners died in riots in 2012, when rival factions attacked each other with guns and machetes.
As a last resort for reconciliation, the church brokered a truce in May 2013 between the Calle 18 and Mara Salvatrucha gangs.
Citizens in San Pedro Sula also deal with corrupt police. At least the last five cases of involvement of officials in the murders of gang members are known. Even police chief Juan Carlos Bonilla faces accusations of extrajudicial killings.
In an attempt to ease tensions, the Honduran government sent approximately 1,000 military police officers to Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula in 2013.
They even search public buses at checkpoints throughout the city for weapons and drugs.
Residents of San Pedro Sula live not only in fear, but also in poverty. More than half the country's population lives below the poverty level, and the unemployment rate hovers around 30%. A man holds a child outside their temporary home in "Rio Blanco" San Pedro Sula.
Almost 1.5 million people do not have access to clean drinking water in Honduras.
In Honduras, two thirds of children live in poverty and 8% are underweight. Social workers found 9-year-old Jason Lopez weighing only 7.71 kg. - normal weight of a 2 year old child.
Approximately 80% of citizens do not have access to health care, and many families either pay for health care out of pocket or go without it.
About 33,000 people in Honduras, like this Wendy Hernandez, are infected with HIV/AIDS. Hernandez became infected when she was raped 10 years ago.
Many Hondurans are trying to escape to the United States from terrible life and violence. But the US is doing everything it can to send them back. Deported from the US after arriving in San Pedro Sula. In 2012, the United States deported more than 32,240 Hondurans by air.
Elections in November 2013. Both candidates promised to crack down on drug-related violence. A soldier stands at a ballot box at a polling station in San Pedro Sula.
But many are concerned about the rise in violence during the election. Journalists in Honduras and even candidates have received death threats. The graffiti says: “This can’t happen to you, come to us.”
In the end, both candidates—Xiomara Castro, wife of ousted ex-President Zelaya, and candidate Juan Hernandez—were victorious. The election authority issued a statement that the vote tally showed Hernandez received 35% of the vote and Castro just over 28%. Hernandez celebrates his victory.
Riots broke out in Honduras because Castro, the losing candidate, denounced the election as fraudulent and refused to accept the results. Police and student protesters in Tegucigalpa.
April 12, 2012
San Pedro Sula is the second largest city in Honduras after Tegucigalpa. The city is located in the north-west of the country, in the Sula Valley, 60 km from the Caribbean Sea. It is inhabited by more than 600 thousand inhabitants. San Pedro Sula is an important transport center and...a point for the transfer of enormous volumes of drugs from south to north, from Latin America to the United States.
The constant struggle between groups that are trying to control the flow of drugs has led to the fact that the city is considered one of the most dangerous not only in the country, but also in the region.
According to a 2011 UN report, there are 86 murders per 100,000 Hondurans every year. This is 20 times the US level.
San Pedro Sula's murder rate per capita is twice the national average. Local authorities openly say that they are not able to control the situation in the city.
Esteban Felix spent several nights on duty with the city police. He captured his nighttime adventures with a camera.
Attention! The report contains scenes of violence. Not recommended for viewing by minors and people with weak psyches
Latin America. Drug trafficking, criminals and drug wars.
March 9, 2012. San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Santos Euceda, in his son's bedroom, shows a photo of his son Jose, who he claims was killed by a policeman.
Esteban Felix/AP
March 9, 2012: A mother displays a photo of her son, Jose Euceda, who she claims was killed by a police officer. The city of San Pedro Sula is plagued by violence and crime. Drug cartels and organized gangs are waging an ongoing war for turf.
Esteban Felix/AP
March 11, 2012. The bodies of Lesbia Altamirano and Wilmer Orbera in a billiard room in Choloma, a suburb of the town of San Pedro Sula. Unknown masked men burst into the establishment and shot the guests of the billiards club.
Esteban Felix/AP
March 11, 2012. San Pedro Sula, Honduras. A man in the Catalino Rivas hospital. He claims that he was attacked by a robber with a knife. San Pedro Sula is the most crime-prone city in Honduras. The city's homicide rate per population exceeds the national average.
Esteban Felix/AP
March 11, 2012. San Pedro Sula, Honduras. A woman was taken to the Catalino Rivas Hospital who was wounded in a billiard room when unknown assailants burst into the establishment and shot club guests.
Esteban Felix/AP
March 10, 2012. San Pedro Sula, Honduras. The man, who was taken to Catalino Rivas Hospital, claims he was attacked with a machete during a robbery.
Esteban Felix/AP
March 11, 2012. San Pedro Sula, Honduras. A man was taken to the Catalino Rivas Hospital who was wounded in a billiard room when unknown assailants burst into the establishment and shot club guests. That night, 19 wounded were taken to the hospital. There were not enough places in the hospital, the floor was covered in blood.
Esteban Felix/AP
March 8, 2012. San Pedro Sula, Honduras. A policeman patrols the streets of the city.
Esteban Felix/AP
March 11, 2012. The raiders killed a minibus driver. Relatives arrived at the crime scene.
Esteban Felix/AP
March 11, 2012. Police are checking the documents of everyone who was in the billiard room on the day of the attack on the establishment by unknown masked men who shot all the club guests.
Esteban Felix/AP
March 10, 2012. City of San Pedro Sula. The mayor of the city, Juan Carlos Zuniga, admits that the local authorities of San Pedro Sula are practically unable to control the crime situation in the city. The city borders Guatemala and is a key international route for drug traffickers bringing drugs from Latin America to the United States.
Esteban Felix/AP
March 8, 2012. Detained at a police station in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
Esteban Felix/AP
March 8, 2012. A policeman shows off his old, inoperable pistol. “Local authorities do not have the necessary tools to fight well-armed drug traffickers,” said Juan Carlos Zuniga, mayor of San Pedro Sula.
Esteban Felix/AP
March 8, 2012. A policeman flexes his muscles at the San Pedro Sula police station.
Esteban Felix/AP
March 8, 2012. A policeman stands watch at the police station in the suburb of Guamilito, San Pedro Sula. At this time, a film about police officers is being broadcast on TV.
Esteban Felix/AP
March 8, 2012. A police officer examines tattoos, trying to determine whether detainee Jose Alejandra Carranza belongs to the Mara Salvatrucha group. In the city of San Pedro Sula, members of an influential group like Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) often act brazenly and with impunity after committing crimes.
Esteban Felix/AP
March 8, 2012. Forensic experts examine the body of a minibus driver who was killed.
Esteban Felix/AP
March 11, 2012: Alberto Barrientos was wounded during a raid on a billiards club. He was taken to the Catalino Rivas Hospital, San Pedro Sula.
Esteban Felix/AP
March 10, 2012: A man whose head was hacked to pieces by an attacking robber with a machete displays a prescription from the emergency room at Catalino Rivas Hospital.
Esteban Felix/AP
March 9, 2012. The body of minibus driver Wilmer Barahona. His body hung from his seat belt after he was shot.
Esteban Felix/AP
A surprising, at first glance, law was issued by the Honduran authorities. Now in the country, motorcycle drivers are prohibited... from carrying passengers. The seemingly absurd rule actually did not arise from good life or the extravagance of the government. Honduras is a country with one of the highest murder rates per capita (about 85 for every 100 thousand inhabitants per year). And more than half of such murders are committed by passengers sitting behind motorcyclists. This strange law is just an attempt to somehow protect residents.
In an interview with the local press, one of the initiators of the law, Senator Eric Rodriguez, said: “We know that this decision will affect a large part of the population and cause a lot of inconvenience, but the country must do a lot of work to try to stop the violence.”
The crime situation in the country continues to worsen from year to year. There are many reasons. Mass unemployment, social inequality, drug trafficking through the country. The country has become a favorite route for drug shipments to North American countries. 80% of the potion is delivered through the territorial waters of the state. Another 20% through airspace.
Groups involved in drug trafficking seize entire areas where they set up caches full of goods, money and weapons. Recently, during an operation, police discovered a laboratory for the production of psychotropic substances in the floodplain of the Platano River. Fighting drug lords is becoming increasingly difficult as entire settlements survive solely on the money they make from helping the merchants of death.
This surge in activity by drug sellers is due to the fact that the Mexican president, mired in a war with drug lords, has made many bosses think about their own safety. Therefore, many decided to move to Central America. Honduras turned out to be one of the most convenient countries in this sense. Agents infiltrated into the drug mafia reported that two large cartels were entrenched in the country - Sinaloa and El Golfo (at least 20 large families). Having divided the country in half, they immediately established a massive supply of cocaine to the United States.
Sinaloa gained strength in Honduras after Edgar “Barbier” Villarreal joined the cartel. This militant became one of the generals of a small army that fought a war for a piece of the cocaine pie with competitors from the Guatemalan Zacapa clan. He created an entire training camp where he trained killers who carried out missions throughout the continent. Being the right hand of the powerful Joaquin “El Chapo” Loera, he was able to raise Sinaloa to the top of the criminal pyramid, regardless of losses. Over the course of a couple of years, El Chapo and Barbier lost more than 5,000 people in criminal conflicts. However, this did not scare away lovers of easy money, and they willingly filled personnel gaps in the small Mexican army. At the moment, according to the CIA, the cartel has 8,000 militants at its disposal.
Honduran security chiefs complain that crime cannot be eradicated while the rotten government apparatus takes bribes. In their report to the UN Security Council, they note that drug lords came to the country in the mid-70s. The Colombians were then supported by the highest ranks of the Armed Forces of Honduras and a number of officials from various ministries and departments. With the collapse of the Colombian monopoly on cocaine, Mexicans entered the country. As the late Security Minister Landaverde said: “The fact that the country is overrun by drug traffickers is to blame for the corrupt army officers at the borders who let them through, as well as various kinds of agents, entrepreneurs and politicians.”
The minister was not afraid to voice information about a number of strange cases that occurred in the country. For example, he called to account the Minister of Justice, who had to explain how a private plane with El Chapo on board was able to land at the international airport of Honduras, and why no one even tried to detain the criminal. How the United States Navy boarded a ship with 5 tons of cocaine on board, which, according to documents, belonged to the Honduran Ministry of Justice. Well, a completely amazing case when in the province of Santa Barbara, during a secret operation, a drug dealer’s cart was stopped. He and thirty of his mercenaries were neutralized and disarmed by special forces of the Ministry of Security. However, a high-ranking official from the Ministry of Justice emerged from one armored car and ordered the release of the detainees and the return of their weapons, since none of them had committed anything at the moment.
Every year, the country's coast guard, with the support of the US Navy, seizes more than 6 thousand tons of cocaine from ships plying the territorial waters of Honduras.
To successfully fight the mafia, the president announced a “witch hunt” among the police officers. As a result of internal investigations that lasted 6 months, more than 200 law enforcement officers, from sergeant to department head, who were suspected of aiding drug traffickers, were taken into custody in one night. There are enough reasons for arrests. The murder of the son of the rector of the country's National University. The loss of more than 300 machine guns and their ammunition from the arsenals of police stations, kidnappings.
Another pressing problem is the catastrophic situation in correctional facilities in Honduras. The prisons are overcrowded, many of them do not meet basic sanitary and hygienic standards, and too little money is spent on keeping prisoners. From correctional facilities, prisons have turned into training camps, where criminals learn to survive in harsh conditions. Riots and massacres between criminals are a common occurrence.
Even in the most developed countries, crime rates are often alarmingly high. Thus, in the USA there are about 15 thousand murders a year and more than 5,000 robberies of private apartments and houses every day. However, America seems to be simply an oasis of calm and security compared to the places that will now be discussed.
In recent years, the city has been in economic decline, and this clearly affects the crime level. Over the past 40 years, the lowest number of murders in the city per year was 197, and by 2014 it no longer fell below 30-40 per month. That is, murders are committed on the streets of Baltimore every day - and often more than one. Considering that the city has only 600 thousand inhabitants, the figure is impressive. New York, once considered a crime-ridden city, is now 14 times behind Baltimore in the number of murders.
Poverty and corruption are the main reasons for the criminalization of Brazilian cities, experts say. Brazil's third largest city, Salvador, has 1,800 murders a year. And this is still an achievement after the terrifying figures of the 1990s, when up to 3,000 murders were committed in the city per year, or almost a dozen a day! Responsibility for most of the violent crimes lies with members of the two rival criminal groups that divide the city, the Grupo de Perno and the Comando de Paz, which, ironically, means "peace team."
More recently, Natal was a popular resort among tourists and even hosted matches of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The situation changed instantly: today, according to statisticians, the probability of being killed or robbed just walking down the city street is 65%! The reason is the sharp increase in corruption and the subsequent redistribution of spheres of influence, where interested parties are taking full advantage of the help of local gangs, which became completely insolent when the official “roof” appeared.
Fortaleza is a beautiful city with unique beaches and beautiful architecture, but all this is offset by the highest level of crime and drug use. The murder rate here is about 60% per 100 thousand population, which means that out of 100 thousand passers-by on the street (not uncommon for a city with a population of one million), 60 will not return home today. Robberies are common in Fortaleza, but kidnapping for ransom is even more popular. Usually, criminals do not torture the victim and hand him over to family and friends in exchange for money literally a few hours after the abduction, but this is unlikely to greatly brighten the mood of the abducted person. If you are a good citizen. and especially as a tourist, you are categorically not recommended to go out at night.
In the 1960s, the city prospered as American companies began mining coal here, and local residents, for the most part, worked for the benefit of American companies for quite decent money. But by the end of the 20th century, the mines closed, and the city, where thousands of people were left without work, was gripped by a wave of crime. The number of murders in Ciudad Guyana is more than twice that of Detroit, and the number of thefts, robberies and rapes here is off the charts.
The capital of salsa and drug cartels, Cali has long held one of the highest murder rates in South America. This city is one of the capitals of regional drug trafficking, and at the same time a place where gangs of drug dealers regularly carry out their showdowns. Dozens of people fall under stray bullets in fights between bandits, and even more become involved in their affairs, only to die later too.
Cape Town police are proud to say that the number of solved murders in the city has increased by 2% in recent years. This, however, is not very impressive when you consider that during the same period the number of murders themselves increased by 4%, and the number of car thefts by 14%. And robberies of residential buildings and apartments are happening without stopping! True, crime is mostly concentrated in poor neighborhoods that are not accessible to tourists, but anything can happen.
Another arena of daily battles between drug cartels for the redistribution of spheres of influence. The murder rate is 70 per 100 thousand population, which seems frightening in a population of 300 thousand people. The worst thing is that no one knows where the next shootout will take place, the victims of which could once again be innocent.
In recent years, the number of murders in the city has quadrupled. Some of the most notorious were the murders of “Miss Venezuela” and another local beauty queen, who was shot directly in the face. According to statistics, 50% of city residents own firearms, and many, without hesitation, are ready to use them in the midst of an ordinary domestic quarrel.
Distrito Central has something to contrast with Venezuelan Valencia: “Miss Honduras” and her sister were shot here in 2014. Murders and robberies are commonplace here, and, again, drug trafficking is the main reason. However, there is also one here. local type of crime, namely maritime piracy. There is a flow of drugs through the sea through Distrito Central, for which pirates are hunting, although they do not disdain peaceful tourist yachts that unknowingly sail into the dangerous waters here.
With a population of 400 thousand people, the number of murders in Maturin is relatively small (for South America, of course) - 505 per year. But the number of drug-related crimes - from illegal trade to thefts and robberies committed by drug addicts - is breaking all records. The reason is simple: Maturin is one of the main transit points for drug trafficking from South America to North America, so almost everything here revolves around this illegal business.
This popular resort is truly life-threatening! In a city with a population of 800 thousand people there are about 1000 murders a year! It is difficult to calculate how many of them are classified as domestic and street violence, and how many relate to drug clan clashes. One thing is certain: the latter are certainly more spectacular. Once, drug cartel killers shot their victim on the beach directly from a jet ski, forcing the whole city to talk about themselves. There is no need to repeat that these guys do not pay attention to whether civilians will fall under their bullets.
Several decades ago, during the civil war, many residents of San Salvador left for the United States. Having settled in Los Angeles, they put together several powerful street gangs. When the war subsided, some of them returned to their homeland and quickly created powerful drug trafficking channels between San Salvador and Los Angeles. This thriving business, which has become almost the main one for the residents of San Salvador, although profitable, is very dangerous: almost 2,000 murders occur every year in this city with a population of two million.
There are no laws in this city and there is practically no police activity. It is run by the drug lords of Honduras, and they rule very brutally: every resident, even not directly involved in drug trafficking, must cooperate with them or die. In a city of less than a million people, there are about 900 murders a year.
This city can be called the murder capital of the world. In 2016, over 20 thousand murders occurred in Venezuela, more than 4,000 of them in Caracas. And this is for almost four million people! However, the reasons for this state of affairs are unclear. Caracas does not have drug trafficking hubs or powerful rival gangs that control the entire city. Most likely, the reason is general poverty, weak government, and the powerlessness of the police and courts: according to statistics, only 8% of caught criminals receive convictions.
Tourists traveling to Ukraine and Israel this year were told by travel agencies about obvious threats to their safety when traveling to these regions. However, on Earth, not only (and not so much) military conflict zones are the riskiest places for business trips or tourist trips. There are many more such places, and we have compiled for you a selection of the most dangerous places on the planet, places where security threats do not arise from the natural environment or man-made factors of the area. The areas in these cities ceased to be places of comfortable living for citizens, and over time degenerated into “smooth and clear” cesspools of crime and fear, into a kind of reserves of human predation. High homicide rates, typically associated with increased densities of organized crime gangs in these areas, have made these cities the most dangerous places on Earth, according to the report United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
10th Place - Kingston, Jamaica.
Intentional homicide rate: 50.3 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2013
Jamaica ranks sixth on the list of countries with the highest intentional homicide rate in the world.
About 1/3 of all murders in Jamaica occur in the island's capital, Kingston. Although the city's homicide rate has fallen every year since 2007 (the peak was 742 murders in 2007), Kingston is still unable to fully curb the violence, which stems largely from high-trafficking organized crime activities. drugs. According to the CIA ( World Factbook) Jamaica is a transit point for the cocaine mafia, operating on the trade route from South America to North America and Europe. Other factors behind the increased murder rate include corruption and money laundering.
9th Place - San Salvador, El Salvador.
Intentional homicide rate: 52.3 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2013
El Salvador managed to reduce the rate of intentional homicides in the country by 40% in 2012, but its capital, San Salvador, is still among the ten most murderous cities in the world. El Salvador, bordering Guatemala and Honduras, creates the so-called “northern triangle” of Latin American states, infected with violence stemming from the activities of transnational criminal groups known as “maras” (or “marabuntas”). One of the most famous gangs in El Salvador, the Mara Salvatrucha, is on a par with the Sicilian Cosa Nostra in terms of the volume of its operations and the level of its organization. According to the UN Office on Crime and Drugs, in El Salvador alone the number of maras reached 20,000 in 2012. This is a colossally high figure. Indeed, it is the presence of transnational criminal gangs, whose numbers sometimes outnumber the police forces in some cities in the region, that influences the level of intentional homicides. The criminal groups in this region are so strongly integrated into the system of public relations that sometimes the chiefs of local police stations double as freelance informants (or even “triggers”) in the structures of local organized gangs.
8 Location - Panama City, Panama.
Intentional homicide rate: 53.5 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2013
Panama City has a population of just 36,000, but the city's homicide rate in 2012 was higher than any other city in North America. The murder rate in Panama is associated with the “entering the market” of groups in the neighboring “Northern Triangle” described above. The increase in gang activity in Panama and neighboring Belize is directly related to the inability of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala to control crime levels in their territories.
7th Place - Cape Town, South Africa.
Intentional homicide rate: 59.9 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2013
In 2009, the total number of intentional homicides in the city was 2,018. Drug-related violence, organized crime and violent robberies are the main reasons for the high murder rate. According to the CIA ( World Factbook) The Republic of South Africa as a whole is one of the key suppliers of marijuana, cocaine and heroin. Drug supplies bring incredible profits to local criminal groups. The gangs' connections are transnational. There has been a steady increase in drug use among residents of South Africa itself. The CIA adds that this state is very attractive for money laundering given the growth of the economy as a whole.
6th Place - Maseru, Lesotho.
Intentional homicide rate: 61.9 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2013
The capital of Lesotho is a real hot cauldron of violence and murder in the region. Despite the very modest size of the country, and the fact that the overall murder rate is higher in neighboring South Africa, Maseru leads in terms of violence throughout the entire “dark continent”. Sexual violence, brutal armed robberies, murders and frequent shootings on the streets - this is the picture of everyday life in this African city. The Overseas Security Advisory Council (USA) clarifies that the reason for this level of crime lies in the very poor organization of law enforcement services. In addition, the use of direct violence by criminal elements against victims is practically not punished. “It’s not just possible to kill, but necessary”- this is approximately the philosophy professed by members of Maseru gangs.
5 Place - Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Intentional homicide rate: 102.2 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2013
When crossing the borders of Honduras, keep your revolver loaded. I'm not kidding. This is the reality of the country entering "northern triangle" of death. Central American Honduras has the highest intentional homicide rate on the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime list. Tegucigalpa is a center of criminal activity, perhaps second only to the growing dynamics of Venezuelan Caracas. The number of Maras members in Honduras in 2012 was estimated at 12,000 people.
4 Place - Bezize City, Belize.
Intentional homicide rate: 105.2 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2013
Belize is not rubber, but the “north wind” from El Salvador and Honduras really brings a lot of evil to this small city. Third in 2012 in terms of homicide rate, Belize worsened the figures in 2013. Half of the murders occur in the capital. Unless the international community turns its attention to such high levels of violence in Central America, an exponential increase in violence in the region is guaranteed.
3 Place - Guatemala City, Guatemala.
Intentional homicide rate: 117.4 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2013
In 2009, the trigger was pulled in the Guatemalan capital an average of 25 times a week, according to US State Department reports. They clicked very “successfully”. Guatemala holds the lead in the level of showdowns on the streets in Central America. The “Northern Triangle” converges at its peak point in this city. Murder is the final argument of the Maras gangsters and is used very often on the streets of the Triangle cities. Usually, members of rival gangs kill each other, but sometimes ordinary passers-by get caught in the crossfire of hot Latin American guys. Often, townspeople become victims of sudden outbreaks of street extortion. One of the exotic methods of extortion in Guatemala is setting fire to the victim’s house in order to obtain money, or arson while carrying out an order to destroy a competing business.
2 Place - Caracas, Venezuela.
Intentional homicide rate: 122.5 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2013
In 2009, 2,550 people were killed in Caracas. Deliberately. Jill Hedge, a senior fellow at the Oxford think tank on Latin America, said that unlike in Central American countries, where gangs kill each other in the name of additional financial benefits, in Venezuela they kill each other for lack of such benefits. Simply put - Caracas' cruelty stems from the population's significant poverty. That part of the population whose leader before his death was Hugo Chavez. The Chavez government declared a war on poverty, not least in the hope that the war against poverty would seriously reduce the level of “crime of the poor.” The goal is very far from being achieved. The fundamental problem of Venezuela is the so-called “low risk / high reward” matrix - only 8 out of 100 murders are successfully investigated. Venezuelan police officers are very closely involved in the structure of gangs involved in extortion and kidnapping. This happens due to the low salaries of police officers.
1 Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis.
Intentional homicide rate: 131.6 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2013
Basseterre, the capital of the island state of Saint Kitts and Nevis, took first place in the ranking of intentional murders, not because of the number of direct murders of citizens, but because of the number of residents living on the island. The island's population is only 15,000 people, but the number of deadly crimes on this small piece of land exceeds all imaginable limits. Basseterre's murder to population ratio is the highest in the world. The city of Basseterre has one of the most tragic histories of any Caribbean capital, having been destroyed many times due to colonial war, fires, earthquakes, floods, riots and hurricanes. However, these factors did not influence the character of the local residents, who were ready to mercilessly kill each other. It's all about nearby Jamaica, from where violence is “exported” to the island. In 2012, US Supreme Court Justice Stephen Brewer was robbed with a machete while on vacation on the island. The bandits threatened to cut off his head if he did not agree to give them his money.
Life safety in cities is a matter of several factors. Typically this is - poverty, emigration and police. A lot depends on the poverty of the population, and the poorer the population of the city, the stronger the general social stratification of the city residents, the higher the crime rate, including the level of intentional murders. Emigration from neighboring areas of criminal elements bringing violence on their shoulders plays the second most important role in the level of urban murders and crime in general. The corruption of the city police is one of the factors that unites almost all the cities of the “northern triangle” of Central America and proves the theory that the mafia is strong where the state is weak. It is these factors that play a huge role in the increase in the level of intentional murders in the territories of modern cities. And there this level is lower, where the level of poverty of the population, the volume of emigration and the degree of police corruption are low.
Andrey Sheremeta, Kiev Urban Bureau (2014)