Daily death toll at 52 in first half of 2012

In Venezuela, criminals kill as they please. Junior José Rodríguez was shot dead for no reason. The killer pretended to be a passenger of the bus driven by him in Barquisimeto, the capital city of Lara state. When both of them were finally alone, the criminal took up his arm, asked him for the money earned on June 24. As soon as he was in possession of the cash, the criminal shot twice, in Rodríguez's head and chest.

Almost nine and a half packages of bullets have been used by criminals in the first half of 2012, for a total of 9,510 Venezuelan casualties, according to the numbers of the Scientific, Criminal and Forensic Investigation Agency (Cicpc). This means 34 murders in every 10,000 inhabitants. Should this trend continue, the death toll would end at 68.

Based on a historical review, specialists in the issue of insecurity explain that in the second half of the year numbers usually climb. They specify that out of the large amount of current money in the last three months of the year, crime peaks.

This was the case in 2011. In the first half, there was a total of 8,830 killings, with 18,850 crimes ending the year, according to unofficial numbers from the Cicpc. Nevertheless, during the introduction of government security plan number 19, "At full life, Venezuela," Minister of the Interior and Justice Tareck El Aissami  pointed to 14,209 murders in 2011.

On the rise

In the first half of 2011, based on Cicpc data, 8,830 murders were perpetrated, that is, 8% less than the 2012 numbers.

Capital District was the entity with the largest amount of crimes: 1,934 murders or 72.2% above 1,123 counted by Cicpc in 2011.