According to statistics kept by the police and the human rights omsbudman, Guatemala registered 3,366 murders during the first half of 2011.
The three most violent departments are Guatemala (1,294 murders), Escuintla (299) and Peten (184). The latter department has been the focus of two intensive security crackdowns so far this year, in light of increased activity by Mexican gang the Zetas.
For another look at Guatemala crime statistics, an interactive crime map created by Guatemalan news site Plaza Publica (see image below) depicts homicide rates and criminal activity across the country, based on data from a World Bank report published in June. According to the World Bank, Peten is among Guatemala’s most violent municipalities, with 80 to 90 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants (the department is also one of Guatemala’s most sparsely populated).
Guatemala’s national homicide rate was approximately 41 per 100,000 people in 2010. This is lower than the per capita murder rates in the other two Northern Triangle countries, El Salvador (64.4) and Honduras (77), according to the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security.