Unrest gripped much of Latin America and the Caribbean throughout 2019. From record violence in Mexico that recalled the darkest days of the drug war, to increased fighting among armed groups in Colombia vying for control in the absence of the FARC and a rise in massacres in Honduras, the region was again one of the world’s most homicidal last year.
As the economic, political and social crisis wages on in Venezuela, the country continues to be the most murderous in Latin America after recording 16, 506 killings in 2019, according to data from the Venezuelan Violence Observatory (Observatorio Venezolano de Violencia – OVV).The homicide rate decreased nearly 25 percent from 81.4 per 100, 000 citizens in 2018 to60.3 per 100, 000 citizens in 2019.
While the drop is important, there is still cause for concern. In part, the reduction can be attributed to the increased territorial control of organized crime groups and the migration of small-time criminals to other countries in the region. The ongoing crisis has also limited crime opportunities, according to the Venezuelan Violence Observatory.
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At the same time, an elite police unit called the Special Action Forces (Fuerza de Acciones Especiales – FAES) has targeted the country’s massive hyper-violent gangs. Butthe unit has also been accused of committing scores ofextrajudicial killings .
Jamaica’s 1, 326 murders in 2019 gave it a homicide rate of 47.4 per 100, 000, marginally higher than 2018’s rate of 47. Though still a considerable improvement over 2017’s rate of 55.7, Jamaican authorities have been unable to stop the violence.
Part of the country’s response was the declaration of states of public emergency in certain parishes, which granted police emergency powers to make mass arrests. The long-term results of this crackdown, which includes deploying the army to certain hotspots, have yet to be determined.
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Nevertheless, Prime Minister Andrew Holness has opted to expand areas under states of emergency in 2020, as well as planning to institute more Zones of Special Operations (ZOSOs), where the military participates in police operations.
Honduras saw an uptick in murders for the first time since 2012, fueled in part by the numerous massacres committed throughout the year. According toofficial government figures , the 3, 996 homicides recorded in 2019 represents a 7.1 percent increase over the 3, 731 violent deaths seen in 2018. The marked drop in homicides in neighboring El Salvador, as well as the continued steady decrease in Guatemala, has once again made Honduras the most dangerous country in Central America.
These figures cast doubt over the security policy of the administration of President Juan Orlando Hernández. He came under fire last November for signing an agreement with the US government confirming Honduras as a “safe third country ” for asylum-seekers awaiting immigration proceedings in the United States. The embattled president also saw the conviction of his brother, former congressman Tony Hernández , in October for trafficking an estimated 200, 000 kilograms of cocaine into the United States.
Homicide In Latin America And The Caribbean
The violence in Honduras has continued in 2020. Authorities recorded 21 murders by January 2 and a total of 111 homicides in the first two weeks of the year alone.
With approximately 522 murders recorded in Trinidad and Tobago, its homicide rate of 37.4 per 100, 000 marked one of the deadliest years in the island nation’s history. The country outpaced last year’s 516 homicides and was just under 2008’s record of 550, according to local media reports.
The island nation’s proximity to Venezuela makes the country particularly susceptible to the ongoing security crisis in that country. In May, authorities announced the arrest of a leader of the Venezuelan gang Evander, suggesting that Venezuelan criminal elements have infiltrated the twin island nation. Nevertheless, Security Minister Stuart Young said in December that “while there has not been substantial evidence to support the existence of Venezuelan gangs operating in Trinidad and Tobago, their association with local criminals is possible.”
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In response to the security situation, an agency that assesses police and fire response conducted an assessmentthat revealed the majority of violent crimes are committed by street gangs and are not connected to the drug trade. At the same time, an “overwhelmed and under-resourced” criminal justice system has led to a high rate of impunity and left state institutions with a severe lack of legitimacy, according to the report. In July, Police Commissioner Gary Griffithwarned that the situation of extreme crime “is going to go on, and on, and on.”
The drop in homicides recorded in El Salvador in 2019 was unprecedented in recent years. The National Police’s tally of2, 390 homicideslast year represented a murder rate of just 36 per 100, 000, a significant reduction for a country that for years ranked as one of the most violent in the world.
However, what’s behind the sharp decline is much more complex. President Nayib Bukele’s credits his sending of troops into the streets to take back territory from the gangs for the decrease. But anumber of analysts consulted by InSight Crime explained that thedrop could alsopossibly be attributed to a concerted effort on the part of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) and Barrio 18 to stop killing in order to maintain territorial control and avoid deadly confrontations with security forces.
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With territorial control comes more opportunities for extortion, the gangs’ primary criminal activity and source of income. The Attorney General’s Office reported a 17.2 percent uptick in reported extortion cases in 2019. The high number of unresolved disappearancesalso undercuts the country’s success in reducing homicides.
The murder rate in Belize dropped slightly in 2019, but still remains one of the region’s most deadly countries. The 134 homicides seen last year, down from 143 in 2018, yielded a murder rate of 33.5 per 100, 000 citizens, according to local media reports .
Despite not being an established hub for organized crime, the Central American nation, which is bordered by the Caribbean to the east and dense jungle to the west, saw an uptick in drug seizures throughout last year amid record cocaine production in Colombia. With limited interdiction capabilities on the part of authorities, coupled with the country’s porous border regions and strategic location, Belize offers an attractive transshipment point for US-bound cocaine.
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It remains to be seen if this growing role in the international drug trade will have an impact on future rates of violent crime in the country.
After two straight years of record-setting violence, Mexico recorded its most murderous year in a century in 2019. The 34, 582 murders tallied last year, according to data from the Executive Secretariat for Public Security (Secretariado Ejecutivo del Sistema Nacional de Seguridad Pública — SNSP), represented a homicide rate of 27 per 100, 000 citizens. The bloodshed capped off a tumultuous first year in office for President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and his “hugs not bullets” strategy for combating the country’s organized crime groups.
Upstart gangs with strong local bases contributed to the continued surge in killings.The gangs are the result of the break up of some of Mexico’s larger criminal groups, and they are unafraid of extreme violence. Security force members were also the target of attacks, and rival groups warred over control of lucrative criminal economies like local synthetic drug sales and extortion rackets.
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The year was defined by a number of grisly massacres reminiscent of the worst days of the government’s “war on drugs, ” including the brazen murder of nine women and children near the US-Mexico border. Bodies were also seen strewn across city streets and hanging from bridges in Michoacán, and Culiacán erupted in gunfire amid a siege by the Sinaloa Cartel. Yet some former law enforcement officials told InSight Crime that the worst might still be to come.
After a steady decline in homicides between 2002 and 2017 and a small uptick in 2018, homicides in Colombia fell again in 2019 even as the country’s criminal landscape continues to adjust to the absence of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia — FARC). The 12, 825 homicides recorded last year yielded a murder rate of 25.4 per 100, 000 citizens, a slight drop from the 12, 923 killings tallied in 2018, according todata presented by President Iván Duque.
From a car bomb in the capital Bogotá to other bombings of police stations and continued mass displacements of community members in strategic border regions, violence persisted across the country. FARC dissidents, the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional — ELN), the Urabeños paramilitary force and an array of other criminal groups were all battling for control over key drug production areas and trafficking routes.
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At the same time, social leaders working to implement the peace accords signed in 2016 have been caught in the crossfire. The 106 human rights defenders murdered in 2019, according to data from Front Line Defenders , made Colombia the deadliest country in the world for such activists. What’s more, the United Nations reported that at least 15 social leaders were killed in just the first two weeks of 2020.
Authorities in Guatemala saw yet another drop in the country’s homicide rate in 2019. After seeing 3, 881 killings in 2018, the 3,
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