With the start of a new year, it seems fitting to revisit the issue that impacts most Venezuelans: crime. Some context is necessary for illustrative purposes, so we provide figures from Colombia (a nation at war with internal guerrilla narcoterrorist groups) and Mexico (another country that has declared war on drug cartels).
El Espectador reports that 15,817 people lost their lives to crime in Colombia in 2009, of which 6,999 were murdered in drug-related killings. There has been a significant rise in such crimes in Medellín and Cali, traditionally hubs for Colombian drug cartels. Colombia has a population of 44.5 million.
El Universal states that 7,724 individuals died in 2009 as a result of the offensive launched against drug cartels and organized crime by the government of Felipe Calderón in Mexico. Labeled by the Mexican press as a narcowar, the figures from 2009 show an extraordinary spike that adds to a staggering total of 19,785 over the past five years. Mexico has a population of 106.3 million.
El Nacional reported that 2009 might end with over 14,000 violent deaths in Venezuela*. Caracas is described as the third most dangerous city in the world, with projections of 56 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. Provea, a local human rights NGO, reported that between January and September 2009, 10,360 people were murdered in Venezuela, while an expert cited by El Nacional claimed that there have been 80,000 homicides in the country over the last decade. Venezuela has a population of 27.9 million.
*Update August 21, 2010: El Nacional has published content from a report commissioned by the Chávez regime, indicating that 19,133 Venezuelans were murdered in 2009.