HomeNewsBriefVenezuela with more than 21,600 murders in 2012: NGO
BRIEF

Venezuela with more than 21,600 murders in 2012: NGO

CARTEL OF THE SUNS / 28 DEC 2012 BY JEREMY MCDERMOTT EN

According to calculations made by a respected NGO, Venezuela is now far and away the most dangerous country in South America, with Caracas one of the most dangerous capitals in the world.

The Venezuelan Observatory Of Violence (Observatorio Venezolano de la Violencia) has released its study on homicides during 2012, which put the national homicide rate at 73 per 100,000 of the population, with Caracas registering 122 per 100,000. As a point of comparison, neighboring Colombia, still in the midst of the civil conflict, last year registered just over 31 homicides per 100,000.

The study was conducted by the NGO working with six national universities. It put the number of homicides during the year at 21,692, a significant increase on 2011 (19,336), which was went down as the most violent year on record in Venezuelan history.

According to the government, the homicide rate for 2011 was just over 48 per 100,000 of the population. Even at this level Venezuela was one of the most dangerous nations in South America.

InSight Crime Analysis

While the statistics can be challenged, the upward trend in homicides cannot. These figures are just part of a wider pattern which began with the election of Hugo Chavez to the presidency in 1999. The blame for this lies on both internal and external factors. The internal factors include rampant corruption in almost all branches of the security forces, a lack of investment in the police force, weak gun control which has led to a proliferation of arms, and a lack of coherent security policy on the part of the Chavez regime.

On the external side, there is the fact that Venezuela has become a principal transit nation for Colombian cocaine. This has led not only to the presence of Colombian criminal networks in Venezuela, along with Colombian Marxist rebel groups, but the development of Venezuelan organized crime. Principal among this homegrown organized crime is the "Cartel of the Suns," a powerful drug trafficking network allegedly led by senior members of the military.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

CARIBBEAN / 7 JUN 2022

Several brutal killings have shaken the small Caribbean island nation of St. Lucia, as murders in the country reach record…

COCA / 11 JUL 2022

Following multiple killings, Indigenous leaders in the Peruvian Amazon are again facing threats of violence after coca eradication operations in…

ELITES AND CRIME / 20 MAY 2022

Political assassinations, record drug seizures, gang wars – an avalanche of criminal concerns in Paraguay are coalescing around the city…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…