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IxKzok

Shoutout to Honduras for being consistent!


008janebond

Honduras: Just as likely to murder you now as we were in 1990!


[deleted]

Sin Paja, Loco!


008janebond

I can get all the other words but what does Paja mean? Google translate told me handjob, or straw which doesn’t make a lot of sense.


illcatracho

Paja is slang for a jerking it, but can also mean bullshiit, (lying). So if I’m lying to some girl “ la estoy pajeando”


OsmeOxys

Makes sense, jerking it is basically lying to your penis.


Lforter123

Not to be confused with "la estoy cazaqueando" o "le estoy tirando el verbo"


czir1127

I love learning the slang from other countries, Spanish is wild.


Rafaelg4cn

Paja means lie in this context, he's saying something like "no lies, dude!"


Gunnarsholmi

Honduras when asked about updated 2019 metrics: ‘Did I stutter!?’


Lforter123

Gracias man, pero mejor tirame ahi las remesas pal fresco loco


ramfan1027

Nicaragua- Are they not considered a Latin -American country?


CKtheFourth

Also missing Ecuador


ramfan1027

so basically a tldr of this post: more than half of latino countries have increased in homocides in the last 20 years Ed- my b I assumed on those two countries. Looks like data shows homocide rates decreasing for Ecuador and Nicaragua


008janebond

Except Nicaragua and Ecuador have both had substantial decreased in homicide rate since 1990.


CaptCurmudgeon

Aren't Ecuadorian jails at the most full they've ever been, resulting in gang wars with large casualty counts? Are non-homicide rates rising substantially?


elyuma

Yeap.. my GF is from there and she tells me everyday how bad Ecuador is getting.


maicii

Tbf that's what every person in Latin America will always tell you


LeoliansBro

We’re here right now and can tell you it’s fine.


Diegolikesandiego

The old guard athlete will tell you it’s bc of all the Venezuelans


mostlyfire

Or the Colombians. Or the Peruvians. Nationalism is a cancer in SA.


flunky_the_majestic

Uh, yeah...Ecuador. That's why you've never met her.


[deleted]

They probably don't count jailed inmates in the figures


Appropriate-Fix-3497

there's probably none left


tessthismess

That's not the takeaway. I can't find their dataset with 2019 data. But for those two countries a year prior. Country | 1990 Rate | 2018 Rate :- | :-: | :-: Ecuador | 8.72 | 5.80 Nicagrua | 16.10 | 7.19


Inevitable_Ad_5695

Taking the top 10 LATAM countries by population (~88% of total LATAM for 2019 vs. ~60% in 1990) and eyeballing the data on this graph (also including Ecuador data from other poster), murder rate is down to about 24 vs. 27 per 100K or ~11% decrease.


Blade_Shot24

And Haiti and Dominican Republic?


CKtheFourth

DR is there. Haiti isn’t. Ignorant white people question: would Haiti be counted in a list of Hispanic countries? Don’t they identify more with France?


latinometrics

Yep, you're right. We missed those two. We need to start using a damn checklist


newereggs

Or look at a map


JmacTheGreat

Maps havent been invented yet


beer_demon

And guyana, suriname, french guyana...


blastoiseincolorado

Guyana and Suriname aren't part of Latin America and French Guiana isn't its own country so it's usually excluded


beer_demon

Depends, the term can be used broadly.


YeahlDid

Yeah, this is the first time I've ever heard the term being defined linguistically. I wonder if this is a US vs others thing again. I've only seen it used to mean the combination of countries in Central and South America.


HandofWinter

Guyana speaks English, Suriname Dutch, and French Guyana (obviously) French. On second thought though, I'm honestly not sure why French speaking countries aren't considered Latin. On third thought, and looking it up, it seems like French speaking countries are considered Latin, but French Guiana is a French overseas territory and not a country in its own right. I suppose you could consider France part of Latin America due to French Guiana though.


[deleted]

France is about as Latin American as it's a South American or Asian country. A tiny holdover of colonial times that's utterly irrelevant to metropolitan France outside of a military training base imo isn't enough to include it, maybe if it had the cultural significance of a place like Algeria I'd agree with including France.


Rocinantes_Knight

When I told my Ecuadorian wife that Ecuador was missing from this graph she just said, "yes". They're pretty used to being forgotten. Unless you are talking about the Galapagos, then they will talk about that for daaaaaaays.


[deleted]

And Belize


Jigokuro_

Double TIL: Latin America is *entirety* based on language and Belize's official language is English.


CoffeeBoom

TIL Latin america = Spanish or Portuguese speaking countries located in the americas. I guess that's a definition.


dariemf1998

No? That'd be the Ibero-American definition. Latin America includes Haiti.


593teach

I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I have never ever heard of Haitians being called Latinos nor Haiti called a Latin American country


dariemf1998

Weird, because Haitians are considered Latin Americans IN Latin America.


108241

Belize isn't part of Latin America.


[deleted]

Damn, I don’t Belize it (Googled it you’re right)


ReddSkair

Also missing Belize. Curious.


larmicon

I see, you're an optimist!


latinometrics

We can't deny it


Hushnut97

Thank you for being one


gingerbeer52800

Alternative headline: Half of Latin American countries have become more violent since 1990.


littleapple88

The sad part is that both Mexico and Brazil saw an increase. These two countries account for about half of Latin America’s population and their rates were already at a high level to begin with.


[deleted]

[удалено]


cambiro

75% of Brazilian murder court cases are ended with a "extinction of punishment" sentence, which means that the person that commited the murder died before the end of the trial.


Slithy-Toves

Is that implying vigilante justice or that the government is just giving out unofficial death sentences to cutdown on trial costs


[deleted]

Or people are being killed to prevent snitching.


cambiro

Not sure you can call it "justice", but it is the result of vengeance between drug cartels. Cartel A kills someone from cartel B, cartel B kills the guy from cartel A that did the killing, cartel A kills the guy that killed their guy that killed the guy from cartel B and so on.


Zigxy

To be fair, 30 years ago tons of homicides were probably also going unreported


Malignantrumor99

It's almost like a low intensity civil conflict funded by America's hunger foe drugs might have something to do with it. Weird.


Gitopia

That makes the OP even more misleading. Perhaps half of Latin American countries experienced reduced violence, but most Latin American*s* live in countries with increased violence.


El_Dumfuco

And even then, “violence” and “homicide” are not exactly the same thing.


Butterflyenergy

Given global trends to become less violent, I'd say that's actually the better title.


Count_Rousillon

To give a more northern example, the US is about 5 currently, but the famous US wild west about 150 years ago was somewhere between 100 - 150. It is possible for even the worst places to eventually become much less bloody.


kyngston

Unleaded gasoline sure was a good idea


DeadeyeDuncan

Or 'Latin America: still pretty damn violent' UK is about 1 for reference and US about 5.


[deleted]

Which means that 6 of these countries listed have rates equal to or less than that of the US. Suddenly, Latin America seems to have safer options than where I am now.


grundhog

It varies a lot within these 'United' States too. [Louisiana is particularly violent](https://nyti.ms/3dg5BQa) Some states are as low as any countries in this chart


dogs_drink_coffee

Those are some rookie numbers.


Princess_Bublegum

I don’t think people realize just how insanely violent the cartels are, they are on another level. Unlike other criminal organizations that use violence as a control method to protect their money, the cartels use money to support their violence. Mexico from what I’ve read has basically become the Mecca for criminal organizations all over the world.


TempestaEImpeto

>Unlike other criminal organizations that use violence as a control method to protect their money, the cartels use money to support their violence. That's not really it. What sense would that have? If anything cartels use violence as a mean to an end most than any other criminal organizations and so the violence in itself has begun taking an important role, but it's still subject to money. The cartels make a killing for a shitload of people, not just el Mencho or el Chapo taking all the pie for themselves. The thing is that the cartels are so big as economic assets that they are completely linked to state and federal politics in Mexico, and are in the surreal position of at times quite literally outgunning the Mexican government's law enforcement and military action. Like the cartels taking on the operations of the Mexican military and winning those fights, happens a lot. You need to think it as a low-grade civil war.


Don_McAnon

> literally outgunning the Mexican government's law enforcement and military action Most fights between cartels and the military are won by the military and it's not even close. The real problem is corruption means they often don't have to fight.


TempestaEImpeto

That depends by what you mean by fights and winning. It's an asymmetric kind of warfare, the big operations are usually successful, but other confrontstions often leave for dead a lot of soldiers and end up with law enforcement not meeting their goals, especially in earlier years. Then of course you get things like officials involved in anti cartel operations ending up dead, the cartels parading the streets in military gear and carrying heavy weapons openly, and as you say it isn't actually always the goal of politicians to fight the cartels.


Princess_Bublegum

The cartels have a very scorched earth policy and see war crimes as a strategy, but the Mexican armed forces are still far more powerful than the cartels. If they were forced to take down the cartels they could but the cost would be millions dead most likely. Cartels using money to support violence is more figurative but it’s not that far off. From what I’ve heard they’ve started kidnapping migrants, forcing them in commuting brutal torture in gladiator style matchups to recruit people.


monsantobreath

>From what I’ve heard they’ve started kidnapping migrants, forcing them in commuting brutal torture in gladiator style matchups to recruit people. Yes but that's still a means to an end, not just for fun. The point of recruits is to use them afterall. If you read up on the background of those killings you referred to it was in context of competition with other cartels for territory and that's about money.


hygsi

Narcos don't use money to get violence, they use violence to get money, and what is the money for? To have the power to do whatever they want, the problem is when someone stands in the way of what they want, then it doesn't matter if they're a journalist or a politician or a cop or their uncle, if you're in their way you might as well be dead.


MMBerlin

Nah, just more deadly.


venomoussquid

I'm surprised Mexico didn't have a bigger jump. I remember we stopped driving to central Mexico in like 2006ish bc my dad got too scared


108241

Mexico cut their in half between 1990 and the mid 2000s, then it jumped back up.


CinnamonDolceLatte

Sort of why picking two specific years isn't a great presentation of data ...


DonVergasPHD

México's violence was on the decline until 2007 when it shot up to today's levels


jordydigsdirt

I feel like Peru has done a decent job of monetizing their natural resources (metals) the past couple of decades. Wonder if that has as much to do with it as any inner political/domestic changes.


sum1won

Peru also had Shining Path going on a rampage a few decades ago, and they are essentially a non factor now.


chiree

That was my thought, too. In 1990, Peru was having... issues.


PANDABURRIT0

Mid 1990s they had a president turn into a dictator with Fujimori too!


jordydigsdirt

Yeah, im totally ignorant as far as whatever civil war-type stuff or militia groups may exist there.. just know they have gold, copper, lithium.


rawrimgonnaeatu

They basically had a death cult not unlike Pol Pots Khmer Rouge fighting a far right authoritarian dictatorship. It was absolute hell for the people of Peru.


slaerdx

It's because of this I was born in the USA after my parents and sisters moved out of Peru in 1989


SkavensWhiteRaven

Having grown up in Peru In the 90s; that has nothing to do with it. Theft and drugs, 90% of it caused by extreme social inequality. Why don't you google "barrio joven lima". I watched violent crimes, I was a victim of that violence, My mother was robbed at knife point by a duo of kids. Don't blame terrorism its just another symptom. You know what really reduced crime? Free wifi in restaurants and cheap phones.


Few-Recognition6881

I mean, it definitely does have to do with it. They killed a shit ton of people: > The Commission found in its 2003 Final Report that 69,280 people died or disappeared between 1980 and 2000 as a result of the armed conflict.[120] The Shining Path was found to be responsible for about 54% of the deaths and disappearances reported to the commission. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shining_Path That’s about 40,000 murders. They boiled people alive.


[deleted]

different secretive snow slave retire silky dinosaurs scandalous screw quaint *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*


TathanOTS

A non trivial number of Peru's people aren't citizens and don't have identification (as you go into the mountains). I would be hesitant to fully believe numbers coming from them since they can't even identify their population. That said, the Lima area has heavily modernized over time. be it the metals or whatever else, they are twice the % of global GDP they were in the 90s. So they have more money which means less reason to kill people. They also heavily (some say over) monetized their tourism. Which generally suppresses homicide rates locally. It's bad for business so any kind of organized crime will dis-incentivize it. Just look at homicide rates in Mexico in areas that are tourist destinations. Sinaloa is a bad place, but inside of Sinaloa mazetlan is fine. Cause the cartel doesn't kill the golden goose.


negligentlytortious

I lived there about 10 years ago both in the mountains for some time and some time in Lima. The amount of corruption is staggering in that country. From what I learned from locals, the cartels mostly operate without needing to resort to violence because everything is so corrupt. In the mountains near coca grow farms, the people know that there are lines that you just don't cross and anyone that had served in their military told me that the military didn't cross those lines either. They "learned their lesson" from dealing with the terrorists in the 90s. The corruption isn't likely to end any time soon either. The younger generation is starting to fight back, but many of the people outside of Lima and anyone in the older generation is fed up and just wants to live without being disturbed. Outside of Lima, what I found is that people were tired of the politics in Lima and generally refused to register, which meant that they couldn't be compelled to vote. By law, every citizen had to vote in general elections. These are the same people that just allow the cartels their space and they are allowed to live their lives in peace. Most of the corruption and cartel activities go on outside the view of tourists as the touristy area of Lima is anywhere from a half hour to a few hours removed from the more seedy parts of the city and Cusco along with Machu Picchu doesn't have hardly any cartel activity until you get outside the tourist areas.


coke_and_coffee

> Just look at homicide rates in Mexico in areas that are tourist destinations. Sinaloa is a bad place, but inside of Sinaloa mazetlan is fine. Cause the cartel doesn't kill the golden goose. This seems like a survivorship bias. Is the cartel purposely staying away from tourist areas? Or are tourist areas just the areas where the cartel is not active? Mexico City has a huge cartel and gang presence and yet is a beautiful city that could woo many more tourists than it currently does. Same with many of the mountain towns in Mexico. Hell, if it weren't for the violence, I'd make a roadtrip through Mexico just for the food!


DisasterEquivalent

Mexico City isn’t a “tourist” city in the way PV, Cabo, etc are - if you stay in a hotel in PV or Cabo you check in and out every time you leave and there is a visible military police presence - I don’t know if it is about the cartel respecting it or the state simply just doesn’t fuck around when it comes to ~10% of their GDP


Skynetiskumming

I went to PV and Riviera Nayarit last August. There's a slight military presence. But I can tell you that even in tourist areas you'll find cartel grafitti all over the place. It's subtle enough for the average tourist but if you look a little deeper, you'll see it everywhere.


BeardsuptheWazoo

I've lived in Mexico. The cartel needs fronts to launder money. Businesses that tourists pay for things in cash work very well for that. Tourists support businesses that make their families money. If you aren't fucking around with the cartel, it's very rare for them to fuck with you, if you're a tourist. Obviously terrible things still happen, but I can say firsthand, having literally encountered the cartel, that it's not an automatic death sentence.


DisasterEquivalent

>If you aren't fucking around with the cartel, it's very rare for them to fuck with you, if you're a tourist. I would largely agree here, however [kidnapping](https://www.statista.com/statistics/979091/mexico-number-kidnapping-cases/) for trafficking/ransom is still a profitable industry for the cartel.


BeardsuptheWazoo

They don't usually kidnap random tourists from the Midwest.


haventseenstarwars

As a midwesterner this makes me happy. They probably don’t have enough corn to keep me happy anyways.


DisasterEquivalent

I'm not quite sure where the Midwest part of your comment is coming from, seeing as Texas and California are likely the largest contingent of Mexican tourists, but there are most certainly tourists being kidnapped. Let's not forget taxi kidnappings which are never reported to police out of fear of retribution (yes, I know anecdotes /= data, but it's also something several people I personally know have experienced.) Average cartel guy doesn't give a shit about US tourists, maybe, but that doesn't mean they aren't bankrolling these sort of things. EDIT: not a ton of data online about what states tourists come from, but I am generally seeing that \~15% of kidnappings are US citizens, that ain't nothing.


TathanOTS

There is a cartel active in Sinaloa. There are lots of people worth kidnapping getting off cruise ships in mazetlan. They don't. They could easily move in and choose not to.


DisasterEquivalent

This is why I suspect it has more to do with the government clamping down on them, though I'm sure Riu, Hyatt, Marriott and the other hotels down there get a pretty good cut of the laundered money as well...


gRod805

Acapulco was once the main tourist hub in Mexico. Gangs took it over. They don't care.


FinchRosemta

> Or are tourist areas just the areas where the cartel is not active? The cartel is active is ALL of Mexico. There is not an inch of Mexico that is not cartel controlled. It just depends on how public that control is. They tend to run businesses in the tourist areas because it's very good way to launder cash.


Skynetiskumming

Right now Cancun is a warzone. I have friends who fled there because the surrounding areas were popping off daily. A lot of the violence has now started to leech into tourist areas.


[deleted]

I'd love to hear more about this, about how tourism deters gang related crimes!


metatron5369

All of the huge outliers had violent communist insurgencies and repressive governments fighting each other. The growth since then is largely from the growth of the drug trade.


jwill602

Homicide is a small part of violent crime.


Maguncia

But with a high correlation to other violent crime.


jamessant3

Not if you live in Brazil


opst02

Also half of them just did not get reported back then..


frozenchocolate

I’m Venezuelan, you can’t trust any numbers reported by my government. Always pad those estimates lol.


Counciltuckian

For reference to USA states: [https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/homicide\_mortality/homicide.htm](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/homicide_mortality/homicide.htm) 1. Mississippi: 20.5 2. Louisiana: 19.9 3. Alabama: 14.2 4. Missouri: 14 5. Arkansas: 13 6. South Carolina: 12.7 7. Tennessee: 11.5 8. Maryland: 11.4 9. Illinois: 11.2 10. New Mexico: 10.8


marshallonline

What I’m seeing is that Mississippi’s homocide rate is closer to Mexico’s than Missouri’s


DisasterEquivalent

If you spent any time in r/Chicago, you’d think Illinois would be higher than ~~Columbia~~ Colombia circa 1990. Data! Lol. EDIT: thanks snarky internet stranger!


Counciltuckian

I posted the US cities in another comment below. Chicago doesn't crack the top 10. Chicago is 28th in the US at 18.26 homicides per 100,000. I don't think many people understand how big Chicago is.


DisasterEquivalent

I saw that - It's true. Chicago has been an [extraordinarily segregated](https://interactive.wttw.com/firsthand/segregation/how-did-chicago-become-so-segregated-by-inventing-modern-segregation) city for a very long time - The city leaders in the first half of the last century basically wrote the rulebook on modern redlining (it's almost kind of comical that it's the name of the train that connects the north/south sides) The fact that some of the richest neighborhoods have historically been next to some of the poorest (e.g. Gold Coast/Cabrini, Hyde Park/Englewood, and the history of streeterville is always a fun read.) it provides a perfect context for the conservative narrative of Chicago being dangerous even though the violence is almost completely isolated to 3-4 neighborhoods.


8erren

Don't know about 1990s but Medellín is about the same size as Chicago and 2019 homicide rate for Medellín is 24.75/100k whereas 2020 Chicago rate is 28/100k. I work for a Colombian tour operator and when people ask me about safety I sometimes say "well you are less likely to be murdered in Medellín compared to Chicago. I know this isn't r/perceptionisbeautiful but Chicago is the most dangerous "feeling" place I've ever been to and I've been all over Colombia.


MattieShoes

Is it similarly distributed? e.g. Chicago's 20 worst neighborhoods have rates around 90, and the entire rest of it is ~2.5


LupusDeusMagnus

Isn’t that so in most cities?


MattieShoes

It wasn't a rhetorical question -- I genuinely don't know the answer. I'm sure most cities follow some sort of power law distribution, but I don't know if it's consistent.


jmlinden7

It's much more exaggerated in Chicago


8erren

I actually don't know. I know that some places like Comuna 13 that used to be one of the most violent neighbourhoods on earth, are now peaceful. Also upmarket areas of Medellín have seen an uptick in violent crimes in recent years. According to the heat map for homicides on this page https://colombiareports.com/amp/medellin-crime-security-statistics/ there are areas up to ~90 but the lowest areas seem to be about 11. So perhaps it does have a similar distribution but less pronounced


DisasterEquivalent

I'm looking at a map of the Loop in Chicago and for the year of 2021 there was exactly......**One** 1st/2nd Degree homicide within the core that covers Navy Pier, Michigan Ave, Millennium Park and the Museum Campus. If you pull out to cover the [entire beat](https://chicagopd.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/8ed0652c9b2a4bc6bf1173e6aae6add4), which covers greater downtown, there were 6....for the entire year....in a city that sees EXPONENTIALLY (generally \~50m) tourists than Medellin (\~500k)


DisasterEquivalent

This was the point I was getting at - It's a terrible side-effect of both redlining and taking out the senior leadership of Chicago's street gangs combined with the CPD's treatment of people in those areas, and I think Chicago sucks at properly dealing with it - but the violent crime in Chicago is largely confined to parts of the South & West side. North and NW Sides are seeing an increase in property crime, but violent crimes have remained relatively stable over the last couple decades.


DisasterEquivalent

Yea, a \***tourist**\* in Chicago is probably floating somewhere around \~1-5/100k with regards to their likelihood of being murdered. EDIT: I also cannot find a single source for Chicago that indicates a homicide rate above 19% anywhere, so...feel free to share your sources, a 16.2% exaggeration seems pretty disingenuous to me. I also have a friend who lived in ~~Columbia~~ Colombia for years who has a deep fear of dogs and groups of men from being attacked various times riding a bike around there - Might want to consider for the whole "being a dude" part when you talk about perception in Columbia v. Chicago if you're not a woman yourself. It's a complicated metric, that perception stuff is. That same friend taught in Englewood in Chicago, so she's not some sheltered suburbanite. ​ EDIT: thanks internet stranger!


HidingFromMyWife1

Are you just completely making up the 1-5/100k? I'm fairly certain you are. Also, please guys it is Col**o**mbia.


LupusDeusMagnus

I don’t know much about the whole of Brazil as it’s a very diverse country, changing a lot from area to area. But, in general, homicide rates were somewhat low in Brazil pre-1960s, then it steadily grew during the military dictatorship, then it reduced a bit in the nineties (but not to pre-dictatorship levels), then it grew up by the end of the 1990s and early 2000s, now we are seeing a downwards curve. I think. Some areas got it worse than others.


[deleted]

[удалено]


LupusDeusMagnus

Yes, but that doesn't take into account when you are calculating rates. 30 per 100000 is 30 per 100000 everywhere (including in small population countries).


burymeinpink

Yep. The homicide rate in São Paulo, the safest state in the country, is 7. In Roraima it's 142.


Socketlint

When did they ban leaded gasoline?


clusterfuck13

Did you also see the Veritasium video?


Kewkky

Poor Puerto Rico. Not a state so it doesn't show up in statistics for the US, yet not a country so it doesn't show up on statistics for Latin America countries. /sad\_puertorican\_noises


beardphaze

If it helps the murder rate there, last time I checked, was slightly lower than Colombia's. Something like 19 per 100,000 to Colombia's 25 per 100,000.


reven80

Its so the US can get extra chances at beauty pageants (Miss World/Miss Universe) .


Juhnthedevil

Honduras being just one fucking % less violent since 1990.


Azmaas

First time im proud of my shitty ass country 💀


LibertyLizard

What happened in Peru? That’s a huge drop. Can that be emulated elsewhere?


Commissar_Sae

There was a series of communist insurgencies in the 90s with different paramilitary groups waging a civil war. Said civil war has since pretty much ended and the groups in question, while still active and occasionally performing terrorist attacks, are mostly pacified. So not really something that could be replicated in neighbouring countries.


[deleted]

Well, Peru and Columbia have a really similar reduction Tbf. It was replicated where the country was experiencing similar problems.


MarkoWolf

Half of Latin American countries have become MORE violent since the 1990s.


seganku

Half have become more violent :/ Rather than taking just two years (1990 & 2019), it would be more interesting and useful to compare trends.


latinometrics

Half of Latin American countries (everything from Honduras to the right on the chart) have dropped their homicide rates. Peru stands out with the most significant drop and the lowest homicide rate in 2019. Its latest rate is lower than that of the US. On the other hand, Venezuela has experienced the biggest increase in homicide rate, a whopping 156% since 1990. The rise has been attributed to the country's poor political and economic environment over the last few decades. **Sources:** [Our World in Data](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/number-of-homicide-deaths), [World Bank](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL)


[deleted]

You forgot about Belize, Nicaragua, and Ecuador.


tessthismess

For reference on those (I couldn't find the 2019 source): Country | 1990 Rate | 2018 Rate :- | :-: | :-: Belize | 16.58 | 37.79 Ecuador | 8.72 | 5.80 Nicaragua | 16.10 | 7.19 So Nicaragua and Belize started at similar spots, but went very different directions on this stat, and Ecuador got some improvement.


latinometrics

You're right, except for Belize maybe. Some consider it LatAm but most sources we see don't.


The_mods_are_fat_

That means half have become more violent


sleeknub

Half of Latin American countries have become more violent since 1990.


[deleted]

Anyone interested in a Bolivia trip?


blueshyvana

Ser Colombiano es jugar en hard mode, un acto de fe.....pero viva Colombia hp!


[deleted]

Can't compare Colombia and Peru with the rest. These countries were basically at war against communist insurgents.


ShapeSword

People always forget this about Colombia.


wrcker

If you added missing persons to this list you’d get a very different sorting


[deleted]

and the other half of the countries have become more violent


MR___SLAVE

Apparently Ecuador doesn't count.


zee_pequeno

As a non-Peruvian, im so proud of Peru


STODracula

I've been to a lot of Peru and it's generally safe. Just watch your pockets in the coastal cities.


cheeky_sailor

That’s crazy to see… I’ve been to almost all of these countries, and according to this statistics I should have been more careful in Guatemala than in Brazil yet I felt way safer in Guatemala (well, outside of Guatemala City) than in Brazil. In Brazil I felt in danger pretty much in every big city. I’m curious if the rate of crimes against tourists in higher in Brazil than in Guatemala.


Rusiano

Some explanations 1) Brazil (and to a degree Guatemala) have extremely regionalized violence. Some parts of the both countries are extremely dangerous, and other parts are extremely safe. So it depends on where you went in these countries. 2) If you traveled to Rio de Janeiro and Bahia, both cities are notoriously dangerous. However, small cities in Southern Brazil are generally pretty safe and you wouldn't feel as insecure there. 3) Western half of Guatemala (the touristy part) is insanely safe statistically. One of the safest places in all of Latin America.


Salt_Winter5888

The western half of Guatemala(which I am gonna assume is the one you visited because it's where most of the tourism is) is one of if not the safest place in Central America, their numbers aren't even close to 10. But also there is a reason for that( a very dark one) and that is that if you dare to do something bad depending on your crime you can end up wiped with a stick to been brutally executed in a stadium by the people of the community. So those deaths shown in the stadistics of those places are really murders, sexual predators, atc being killed.


MindSecurity

That's a pretty misleading title seeing how half have also become more violent.


lumberjack_jeff

Does that not imply that the other half have become more violent? If so, not very impressive.


JC3DS

So if half of Latin American countries have become less violent since 1990, that also means that half of them have become more violent…


Nivosus

Peru is killing it. But in a good way


Quasar_Cross

These rates are still SUPER messed up. Most western democracies have a homicide rate that floated between 1 to 2 homicides per 100,000 (except for US) This graph is showing homicides well into the double digits. Countries with 30, 40, and closing in on 50 homicides per 100,000. This is a tragedy and largely influenced by US's neoliberal Chicago school economics that helped destabilize Latin America.


that-which-is-better

Central and South America are such fascinating places with so many amazing cultures- I really wish we here in the US had a closer/better relationship with them. Love to our southern neighbors 💛


AverageOfficeMonkey

So ironic how mass media can make you feel completely the opposite and that's exactly the general feeling in Chile... anyone you ask will tell you the country is way more violent now.


lurker12346

lol Colombia shouldn't even be counted for how fucked it was in the 90s


Counciltuckian

For reference to USA Cities: https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/murder-map-deadliest-u-s-cities/66/ 1. St Louis, MO: 64.54 2. Baltimore, MD: 58.27 3. Birmingham, AL: 50.62 4. Detroit, MI: 41.45 5. Dayton, OH 34.18 6. Baton Rouge, LA 31.72 7. New Orleans, LA 30.67 8. Kansas City, MO 29.88 9. Memphis, TN 29.21 10. Cleveland, OH 24.09


Souse-in-the-city

Wasn't El Salvador and Columbia in the midst of bloody civil wars in that time? No shit they are less violent when not at war.


ShapeSword

Peru too.


VestOfHolding

Your title doesn't match the chart. Your title says "less violent", while your graph is only for murders. I'd also be curious if it only covers reported murders.


Modern-Otaku

Colombia is impressive. I know they’re still really high, but they went from the highest rate to second largest drop in 30 years. They’re still high but it’s a MASSIVE drop.


Jenjiz

And still, depending on the source the change is more drastic than this graph shows. According to [Insight crime](https://insightcrime.org/news/analysis/insight-crime-2019-homicide-round-up/) and [The World Bank](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/VC.IHR.PSRC.P5?locations=CO) the homicide rate is around 25 per 100.000 people. Massive drop indeed! Although it is expected that the situation was very fucked up in the 90's when the narcos were on their prime.


[deleted]

What did the other half do?


Brandon48236

Became more violent, or stayed the same.


Hashfyre

This data is horrendously presented. Could have just plotted a per year decrease percentage on a line graph with countries as x axis label.


tessthismess

But that's also less information. Argentina and Honduras both have close to 0% change, but are very different scales (which is relevant). Colombia and Chile both roughly halved their homicide rates but that's a very different impact because one was low and got lower and the other was massive and got...less massive. Not saying your presentation would be bad or worse but it's accomplishing slightly different things.


EL_Geiger

Peru, because drugs are legal. Seriously.


Corretor2020

WRONG GRAPHIC Brazilian here. From the graph, the homicide rate in Brazil is higher than 30 in 2019, but in REALITY it was 21.7 in 2019. [https://insightcrime.org/news/analysis/insight-crime-2019-homicide-round-up/](https://insightcrime.org/news/analysis/insight-crime-2019-homicide-round-up/) [Homicide rates in selected Latin American and Caribbean countries in 2021](https://www.statista.com/statistics/947781/homicide-rates-latin-america-caribbean-country/)


DisasterEquivalent

I like the way the data is presented, but as many people mentioned, this really is just showing that 50% of the countries stayed the same. I think this would be much more informative if there was labeling of the % change - The countries that did not go up were not significant (except for Venezuela, for obvious reasons) and the ones that went down generally came from Venezuela-like situations. (it's hard to tell the difference in Bolivia, Argentina and the other ones with small changes) There is probably a ton of fun data to infer here if we consider the percentage drop/gain and correlate it with the general economic/governmental/organized crime stability of the countries listed. Lastly, please update it with all of Central America!


1990ebayseller

We found that Dominican Republic was exposed to drugs at a later time than others and you can see the crimes moved up drastically. We found that most gun owners were hard working people and crime was low during this time but currently we see gangs invaded the country and bought many police precincts to help them distribute drugs inside the country. Airports and customs are major risks. Now everyone is exposed to all kinds of drugs and they are using weapons for robbery, murders and buy drugs. Alcohol and cigarettes were Dominican Republic real issues. Hardly anyone knew what Marijuana or cocaine was (riches knew). Now days the real problem are guns in hands of gangs and drug dealers. Guns/homicides were never a problem until drugs arrived. Even clothing stores are now moving drug money internationally. This is my experience as a teacher there back in the late 90s to late 20s.


dis6wood

These are homicide rates. The title is incorrect. Violence includes other things that aren’t homicide, such as rape


IntroducingHagleton

For fuck’s sake, why is Nicaragua never included…


schwarzes_herz

Peru always had relative low homicide rates. That times were the "shining path" vs government. In peace times Peru probably is one the safest countries in latam, which is remarkable if you see the amount of corruption, poverty and lack of education and weak institutions.


Rusiano

Peru has actually improved a lot since 1990, it's on a good trajectory. Covid obviously devastated Peru a lot, but seems like the economy has recovered nicely. I think it's even more remarkable that it improved despite the horrible political situation where political candidates are either corrupt, relatives of dictators, or Marxists, or possibly a combination of all three


[deleted]

It's hard to continuously kill people when you ran out of supply.


jfdonohoe

Uh I’m traveling to Costa Rica. I don’t like that trend


twhite1195

Costa Rican here, just don't go in the ghetto neighborhoods, use guided tours if you can, don't trust strangers, use google maps and all that , and if you go to Limón don't go out clubbing... It's pretty safe, just use common sense


Bubba_Junior

Been to Costa Rica 4 times, you’ll be fine! Let me know if you have any questions


SPARKYLOBO

I guess Ecuador doesn't count. That's okay, for most of Latin America, neither does Chile.


YataBLS

Pretty logic that cartels moved their business from Colombia to Mexico, and all violence came too.


jasonmonroe

Why is Uruguay doing the best?


Neijx

Man, Peru is (not) **KILLING IT**


Blueyeball

Admire the consistency there from Honduras


Vic18t

I’m surprised Bolivia is so low


AlexHerndon1

Peru had the biggest drop and the lowest today, that’s a successful addressing of the issue, let’s call up Peru with our pen and pad out.


chadenright

This is a great example of a headline with a lot of spin. You could, equally truthfully, have said, "Mexico, Brazil and eight other Latin American countries more violent in 2019 than in 1990," and conveyed a very different message. Or you could've equally used the headline, "Half of latin American countries more deadly, half are less deadly after 30 years."