Caracas is the world's third most violent sub-national jurisdiction

Mexican NGO Citizen's Council for Public Security (CCSP) released a report including, among other things, the world's 50 most violent sub-national jurisdictions in 2011.

According to the data compiled by CCSP, Caracas Capital District (Libertador Municipality) was the world's third most violent sub-national jurisdiction (out of 50 sub-national jurisdictions) in 2011. Last year, there were 2,215 murders in the Capital District (Libertador municipality). This means that the murder rate stood at 105.31 per 100,000 inhabitants. The sub-national jurisdictions of Cortés and Yoro (Honduras) were the two jurisdictions ranked first and second in the list, respectively.

The state of Miranda (including the municipalities of Sucre, Hatillo, Chacao and Baruta) ranked 10th in the list. According to the report, in Miranda state there were 2,249 murders in 2011, a homicide rate of 75.27 per 100,000 inhabitants. Carabobo ranked 16th in the list (1,622 murders, that is a homicide rate of 69.57 per 100,000 inhabitants.

According to the document, "access to data on murders in Venezuela is very difficult. On the one hand, the government rarely reports on murders, and when it does, data are not credible, and some political and social actors claim that numbers are 'trimmed.'"

Caracas was ranked as the sixth most dangerous city in the world in 2011, with 3,164 murders -a homicide rate of 98.71 per 100,000 inhabitants. San Pedro Sula (Honduras) ranked first, with 1,143 murders -a homicide rate of 158.86 per 100,000 inhabitants.

iiglesias@eluniversal.com