In cases like Venezuela, 80% of the country's population lives in Caracas. That is why Latin American cities have such high crime and homicide rates when compared to US cities. Most of the people live in one city. In the U.S there are lots of large cities (full of crime as well). There's basically one big city for every state (NY, LA Miami, Chicago, etc.).
Still, the U.S. is no safe haven. I think you're the one who's delusional. There were 15,241 murders in the US in 2009. Argentina and Chile both have lower homicide rates than the US. See how your generalization of an entire region doesn't work?
My suggestion to you: TRAVEL! Learn from something other than Fox news and Larry the cable guy. Open your mind.
In the Cold War ... the usa were afraid that the other countries of central and south america ... became communist, and then the U.S. military bankrolled conservative regimes in these countries ....
then with high repression, censorship and violent groups arose against the regime ... these groups needed money so they joined the criminals ... thus forming chains of various crimes .... these organized crime groups have become much stronger, and began to dominate certain regions ... and with the great social differences these countries ... many others were attracted to the crime .... the case is drug trafficking ... affecting countries such as Bolivia, Colombia and Mexico ...
Now you said that south america has the highest crime rates and you're wrong .... the countries of the African continent and some of asia easily outweigh any parents of central and south america ...
Argentina, Chile and Brazil does not have a crime rate as high ...
Brazil has a great number of murders? yes
Brazil has a great percentage of murders by people? no
Why? because Brazil has the fifth largest population in the world, with almost 200 million inhabitants ....
Hey, i am guessing you are from usa well let be tell you venezuela is not and small nation we have over 30 million peopleonvenezuela, the murder rates are biggerthan 1000 in carcas (venezuelas capital) every week are over 70 murders, the high murder rate in south america and central america is because is not enough jobs so people go theeasy way and starts assaults, kidnapping and that thimgs byt i love south america and i wouldnt change for nothing people is very mean about latins but we are not all the same but is south america have many murders butusa have too, and they are worst you will never hear about for examplevenezuela a guy that kills 18 kids, people in south america are violent but in usa they way more crazier
Hi there,
you generalize the violence in Central and South America. For example, Nicaragua and Costa Rica are very safe countries, and so are Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and others in South America. I spent 6 months in South America alone this year and had no problems with crime at all. There are large parts of Brazil (mostly southern Brazil) with a very low crime rate. I spent 3 months in Cartagena in Colombia which has a low crime rate as well.
Have you heard of cities like Detroit, St. Louis, New Orleans, Washtington, D.C., etc. These cities have more viloent crime than most major cities in Latin America.
Crime rates are extremely high in some Latin American cities but very low in others. In places where the violent crime rates and murder rates are highest, the biggest reason is usually the illegal drug trade (this is true especially for parts of Brazil, Colombia, Central America, and Mexico). Cocaine is produced in South America, and lots of marijuana is produced all over Latin America. The producers and traffickers get rich from sales (much of it to the USA) and then buy weapons and influence with their money in order to protect themselves from police and other traffickers. This is a constant low-grade state of war in some parts of Latin America, as you may know. As these drug cartels gain more and more power, they cause additional violence by branching out into other sources of income like human trafficking, weapons trafficking, and kidnapping.
There are other causes of violence in the region, and many Latin American cities would still have high rates of murder and violence as a result of those causes (economic inequality, high unemployment rates, systemic corruption, recent civil wars and CIA involvement, etc.), but it's the drug trade that pushes the violent crime and murder rates much higher than they would otherwise be.
The war on drugs has been a failure and also has unintentionally caused lots of suffering for innocent people caught in the crossfire.
The causes of high crime and violence in Latin America and Brazil have been studied for years and is still a point of contention among sociologists, cultural anthropologists, and other pundits.
From my point of view, it is due to the huge gap between rich and poor, low educational standards, and consequent lack of social mobility.
Latin America has a huge gap between rich and poor, if you travel to any of these countries you are going to see that it is a society of "have"s and "have-no"s. The way to evaluate this gap is to refer to the country's Gini coefficient. If yo look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gini_coeffi... you are going to see that larger Gini coefficients (that is, greater gap between the rich and the poor) correlate well with those countries that show high crime rates.
The huge gap between rich and poor would not by itself be an issue if a poor individual in these countries would be able to move through the social ladder and rise its own status. Unfortunately, these countries are also plagued with low educational standards, and it is very difficult for anyone who is born in a lower class to rise to the medium or higher classes. Still, the gap between what an auto mechanic make and what the Chief Financial Officer of a large company makes is huge indeed, even more than in the US. [but the US is getting there...]
And, of course, religion and culture also makes a difference. India and China, for example, also show a huge income between rich and poor, but their crime rates are lower. Social coercion, beliefs, etc. contribute to the crime rate. Latin America is mainly Catholic, and it is said that the honor system in these countries (where honor is assigned by the individual to the individual itself - "I am a good or bad person depending on how I view my own integrity" as opposed to "Honor is assigned to me by others in society").
Consumerism also helps - the reach of TV and marketing make many covet for a life that they cannot afford.
Organized crime and corrupt officials also contribute to higher crime rates. In Brazil, it is the PCC - Primeiro Comando da Capital http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primeiro_Co... and in Colombia, Mexico are the drug cartels as organized crime institutions.
It is argued by some that the prohibition of abortion (except in rare cases) also contribute to crime, as it will increase the rank of the poor, which will then be trapped into poverty.
As you can see, the causes are multiple, and the solution to these issues is likely to require many attack fronts.
The Answer Is Easy. Poverty Homie, Poverty!!!!
Every Single Battle Get's Tougher & Tougher, Why Is It When The Rich Wage War It's The Poor Who Suffer????
Political Agendas & A Bunch've Lies, Why Is It When The Rich Wage War It's The Poor Who Dies????
Latin America has a long history of political/economic/social oppression from foreign powers, corruption within, just many forces at work that have created of it what it is today: violence, poverty, you name it. The US has made Latin America its backyard, to do in it what it wishes when it wishes, and well consequences are numerous.
All the other answers are stupid and rude. Okay. In latin and central america they are 3rd world countries. They happen to be poor, cause that's just how they are. They don't know any better so they steal and kill. Not all people, just some. Its like that in most countries . They're not gonna kill u ic you don't look for trouble.
Happy holidays!
the culture, it is all the culture. the crime rate is very low in asia, especially in east and south east asia. it is because the culture: the family, the community is very tight, tied together, respect the elders.
And please can no one give me the usual nonsense like "no, it's not >insert south american country< is very safe" or "why don't you visit >insert south american country< before asking such a question" Those are not answers more like delusional excuses.
Statistically Central and South American countries have the highest crime and homicide rates in the world, this is fact. I can't think of one European or even a North American city that annually has over 1000 murders each year and rising, Countries like Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, El Salvador, the Caribbean all have extremely high murder rates, which is staggering especially when you consider the size of some of these nations like Venezuela or El Salvador , so why is that ?
at least peaceful countries and we do not steal the oil arabes.americans fat,go to mc donald filho da put@
It's because they're brown people.
