HomeNewsBriefVenezuela Gov't Claims Homicides Down 30%; Really?
BRIEF

Venezuela Gov't Claims Homicides Down 30%; Really?

HOMICIDES / 13 DEC 2013 BY MARGUERITE CAWLEY EN

Venezuela's interior minister says the 2013 murder rate has fallen around 30 percent since last year, a dubious claim according to NGO counts and given the government's propensity for fudging crime statistics.

Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres told Reuters the country was set to end 2013 with a homicide rate of 39 per 100,000 residents, which according to statistics from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), would make it the lowest since 2005. 

The figure would represent a major drop from the government's official 2012 murder rate of 56 per 100,000 -- itself a record high. Independent counts set the 2012 rate much higher, at up to 73 per 100,000.

The minister attributed the 2013 decrease to President Nicolas Maduro's program of sending soldiers to the streets to fight crime.

"There's still a lot of work to do, but we're heading firmly in the right direction," said Rodriguez.

The independent Venezuelan Observatory of Violence, meanwhile, has projected a 24 percent rise in murders on the 21,000 it recorded last year. To this, the minister replied, "They want to keep the perception worse than the reality."

InSight Crime Analysis

Earlier this year, Rodriguez admitted to media that the Venezuelan government keeps unfavorable crime statistics secret, saying he told Maduro they should start releasing the numbers now that they were "in tune with what we want." Over the year, his claims of decreasing homicides have ranged from five to 61 percent, and the government's lack of transparency and wildly fluctuating estimates offer good reason for doubt.

SEE ALSO: Venezuela News and Profiles

Additionally, the first four months of this year saw record homicide numbers maintained, putting the country on track to far exceed the 16,000 murders officially recorded by the government in 2012. As of August, the Venezuelan Observatory of Violence had calculated 25,000 murders for the year.

Even if Rodriguez's claims were credible, a murder rate of 39 per 100,000 would be nearly four times what the World Health Organization (WHO) classifies as "epidemic," and among the highest in Latin America -- above both Colombia and Mexico. The fact that such a figure appears to be a wildly optimistic projection only further highlights the country's dire security situation.

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

COLOMBIA / 2 MAR 2022

After dozens of coordinated events to paralyze portions of Colombia, ELN militants underscored that the armed group remains the country's…

ELITES AND CRIME / 22 MAR 2023

The resignation of Venezuela's Oil Minister, Tareck El Aissami, after the arrest of a close ally may precede a sensational…

CHAPITOS / 9 AUG 2022

Little clarity has followed the brazen assassination of a local police chief in northern Mexico.

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…