[54] According to experts, kidnappings and torture by the Directorate of Military Counterintelligence increased during the 8-year tenure of Hugo Carvajal. [117][104] The United Nations has stated that the Venezuelan government is lacking 20,000 investigative police. Latin America & Caribbean: homicide rate 2022, by country, Latin America & Caribbean: intentional homicide rate 2020, by country. A non-government organisation says Venezuela has the world's highest murder rate - many of them extrajudicial killings by police.And an elite special forces . Private gun ownership was banned in Venezuela in June 2012, but their homicide rate went from 73 per 100,000 people in 2012 to 82 per 100,000 people in 2015. [50] In Venezuela's prisons, inmates will use "telemarketing" strategies, creating fear in individuals so that they will pay before possibly being kidnapped. [15] The U.S. Bureau of Diplomatic Security stated that there were 73 daily violent deaths in 2018. Official websites use .gov Venezuela's murder rate decreased from 92 per 100,000 in 2016 to 81.4 in 2018, according to the Venezuelan Violence Observatory (OVV), due in part to criminals joining millions of other Venezuelans in fleeing the country. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. In 2012, La Planta, a prison built in 1964 with a capacity of 350 inmates, held almost 2,500 inmates with many armed with heavy weapons. In the mid-1970s Lesotho witnessed a murder rate of 141 per 100,000, while more recently Columbia's murder rate was variously estimate at between 63 and 84 per 100,000. They explained that "Weak security, deteriorating infrastructure, overcrowding, insufficient and poorly trained guards, and corruption allow armed gangs to effectively control prisons". Home invasions and other complex crimes are well planned and involve the use of a person with inside knowledge or a scam (such as impersonating police, delivery personnel, or utility company personnel) to gain access. Congresswoman Delsa Solorzano -- also the vice president of opposition party Un . Prosecutors rarely brought cases against perpetrators of unlawful killings. [60] In March 2012, Venezuela's National Assembly removed Supreme Court Justice Eladio Aponte Aponte from his post after an investigation revealed alleged ties to drug-trafficking;[61] on the day he was to face questioning, Aponte Aponte fled the country, and has sought refuge in the U.S., where he began to cooperate with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Department of Justice. [citation needed] This is due to Venezuela's economic problems. According to the BBC article, 4 of 5 kidnappings are express kidnappings which are not included in government statistics. Most violent crimes in Caracas, especially murder, involve firearms. (If the rate were calculated on the basis of the number of females in the national population it would of course be approximately double the figure in the final column). Qatar has the lowest crime rate in the world, followed by the UAE, according to Numbeo statistics. [66][67][68] One informant stated that the two would often fly out of Terminal 4 of Simon Bolivar International Airport, a terminal reserved for the president. According to Numbeo, Venezuela is the country with the highest crime rate which is 84.36. [78], In the World Report 2014 by Human Rights Watch, the organization stated that "Venezuelan prisons are among the most violent in Latin America". Prison population total. Retrieved from, Last edited on 14 December 2022, at 22:16, United States Drug Enforcement Administration, Minister of the Popular Power for Interior, Justice and Peace, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, "Latin America Scores Lowest on Security", "Venezuela es el pas ms inseguro del mundo, segn un estudio", "With 28,479 killings, Venezuela takes second spot on world murder ranking", "Tres fases de la violencia homicida en Venezuela", "Chavez leaves Venezuelan economy more equal, less stable", "For Venezuela, Drop In Global Oil Prices Could Be Catastrophic", "Why Venezuelans worry more about food than crime", "Looting and violence on the rise in Venezuela supermarkets", "On Venezuela's highways, a disabled truck increasingly means a looted truck", "Venezuela murder rate dips, partly due to migration: monitoring group", "Venezuela, otra vez el pas ms peligroso de Amrica Latina: registr 16.506 muertes violentas en 2019", "Venezuelan beauty queen gets carjacked at gunpoint", "Venezuelans regret gun ban, 'a declaration of war against an unarmed population', "Crime is so bad in Venezuela that even soldiers were ordered to avoid driving at night", "Los venezolanos creen vivir en el pas ms peligroso del mundo", "Reports of kidnapping in Venezuela nearly double in 2016", "Venezuela rocked by killing of beauty queen Monica Spear", "Venezuela se desangra: rcord de homicidios en 2013", "Venezuela's Homicide Rate Rises, NGO's Report Says", "Venezuela, More Deadly Than Iraq, Wonders Why", "Venezuela sufre 2000 muertes violentas por mes", "Venezuela's Maduro launches civilian disarmament plan", "Observer group: Venezuelan homicide rate rose in 2015, rivaling El Salvador as world's highest", "Venezuela first among the most violent countries in LatAm", "Attorney General's UN Gaffe Reveals Venezuela's Record-High Murder Rate Violence at Epidemic Levels Based on Government's Own Figures", "Venezuela's escalating violence seen in killing of Carolina Herrera's nephew", "One in 10 girls sexually abused worldwide: UN", "Venezuela favorece a los familiares de fallecidos que no informan a la prensa", "Hubo 16,917 secuestros en 2009 en Venezuela", "SeguridadPblicayPrivada VenezuelayBolivia", "Venezuela: Gravsima Crisis de Seguridad Pblica by Lexys Rendon", "Segn el Cicpc el 2011 cerr con 1.150 secuestros en todo el pas Sucesos", "Welcome to Venezuela, the kidnap capital of the world", "Taking no prisoners in the kidnap capital of the world: On the streets of Caracas with an elite police squad", "EN EL 2009 SE COMETIERON MS DE 16.000 SECUESTROS EN VENEZUELA, SEGN EL GOBIERNO LOCAL", "Venezuela y los secuestros diarios que no se reportan", "Ubican a Venezuela en el quinto lugar en riesgo de secuestros", "For Venezuelans, Kidnappings Are Simply Business As Usual", "Agentes de inteligencia venezolanos operan bandas de secuestro y extorsin", "FARC Computer Files Are Authentic, Interpol Probe Finds", "$300 Million From Chavez to FARC a Fake", "Interpol Analysis of FARC Laptop Authenticity Will Not "Prove" Links Between Venezuela, Rebels", "Treasury Targets Venezuelan Government Officials Supporting the FARC", "National Assembly removes Justice Aponte Aponte", "Venezuelan official: Ex-judge 'sold his soul' to the DEA", "Corrupt military officials helping Venezuela drug trade flourish", "Fuente AP: Aponte Aponte est en contacto con la DEA. Levels of gratuitous violence are on the increase and the majority of criminals use lethal weapons in the course of carrying out their activities. San Pedro Sula, in the northwest of the country, is at the center of much of this small Central American country's violence. Many people are victimized by crime because of fear and the perceived inability of Venezuela's criminal justice system to prevent crime. the country has a murder rate of about 67 per 100,000 inhabitants. As of 2022, the US Department of State recommends that Americans avoid traveling to Venezuela especially due to its high rate of violent crime such as homicide. [63] Venezuelan officials have also been allegedly working with Mexican drug cartels. Many people are victimized by crime because of fear and the perceived inability of Venezuela's criminal justice system to prevent crime. Many unaffiliated criminals are also increasingly involved in kidnappings, either dealing with victim's families directly or selling the victim to terrorist groups. Crime in Venezuela. [40][41] The cover ups were possibly performed following an El Nacional cover story showing piles of corpses scattered throughout a morgue in Venezuela. LockA locked padlock While the government has refused to release its own statistics for years, a recent report by an NGO, the Venezuelan Observatory on Violence, estimates that 24,000 people were murdered in 2013 . The police force is organized according to a quasi-military hierarchy and includes urban police agencies, the National Guard, state police, and municipal and provincial police forces. [133], By 2018 deep into the crisis in Bolivarian Venezuela, prisoners suffered from starvation and communicable diseases in addition to violence as a result of the mismanagement and overcrowding of prisons. Use Ask Statista Research Service. According to a victimization survey conducted by Venezuela's National Institute of Statistics, in the year leading up to July 2009, 46 kidnappings took place every day in Venezuela, a much . [78], At least 80% of kidnappings occur in a limited area around Caracas and including Miranda State. From 1917, "greater awareness of the country's oil potential had the pernicious effect of increasing the corruption and intrigue amongst Gomez's family and entourage, the consequences of which would be felt up to 1935 B. S. McBeth (2002). Coronil, F. (1988), World Prison Brief (n/d). Please check your download folder. Its murder rate is 41.2 homicides per 100,000 people, the fifth-highest in the world. In the US, the crime rate is 47.70. statistic alerts) please log in with your personal account. But even as crime climbs, the number of police battling criminals is falling. Most robbery victims who have resisted criminal demands have usually been seriously injured as a result of their noncompliance. After surviving the short-lived coup in April 2002, Chavez disarmed state and local police forces to prevent future uprisings. By 2008, those countries had maintained roughly the same homicide rate while Venezuela's had skyrocketed to 50 murders per 100,000 citizens. [126], In 2013, it was reported that Venezuela was one of the most weaponized areas in the world, with one firearm per two citizens. . Murder rate : Homicide rate per year per 100,000 inhabitants in various countries. The U.S. Department of State has issued a Level 4 travel advisory for Venezuela, indicating that it is unsafe to travel to the country, and travelers should not travel there. Only a very small percentage of criminals are tried and convicted. Venezuela has been in an economic crisis since the election of Hugo Chavez in 1998 when the country's oil-based socialist economy began to rapidly decline. Maria recalls a shift in the nature of the crimes as desperation fueled robberies with the threat of violence. [52], Many kidnappings are not reported to police in Venezuela since they are not trusted. They occur when criminals force their victims to extract cash from ATM machines or to make purchases with the victims credit cards until the card is shut off. We have provided a few examples below that you can copy and paste to your site: Your image export is now complete. In Venezuela, debate and discussion is not what the government is interested in, they want only loyalty. [24] InSight Crime says the crisis has "all too often been obscured by the government's reluctance to release damning crime statistics". Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - 36.54. The age of criminal responsibility is 18 years. Venezuela crime soars amid declining poverty. Belize - 37.79. Year. Over the last several years, Venezuela has become a pivotal player in the international drug trafficking game. [41][46][47] According to the leaked INE report, only 1,332 investigations for kidnappings were opened or about 7% of the total kidnapping cases, with 90% of the kidnappings happening away from rural areas, 80% of all being express kidnappings and the most common victim being lower-middle or middle class Venezuelans and middle-aged men. Over 90 percent of homicides in Venezuela go unpunished. But perhaps the most ironic contribution to Venezuela's high crime rate may lie in the failure of Chavez's government to fully deliver on the egalitarian . Level of crime: 93.11: Very High: Crime increasing in the past 3 years: 86.72: Very High: Worries home broken and things stolen: 76.20: High: Worries being mugged or robbed . [130][dead link], Venezuelan prisons are led by "pranes" or criminal bosses that operate while jailed. Year End Reports. [130][dead link] The majority of Venezuelans also believed that there was a poor due process of law while also thinking that the criminal justice system was not timely and judgement was ineffective. There is a high threat from violent crime and kidnapping throughout Venezuela, which has one of the highest murder rates in the world. Venezuela - 36.69. Owing to its ever-growing homicide rate, Venezuela is among the most dangerous countries in Latin America and the world. Venezuela crime rate & statistics for 2017 was 49.88, a 14.47% decline from 2016. [40][41] It was also reported that police would intercept the families of the victims and take them to the library of the University Institute of the Scientific Police (IUPOLC) where authorities offered families ways to "streamline procedures and advise them not to give information to the press in return for their aid". In an interview with Prison Minister Iris Varela, the minister explained how all prisons were under her control and that there was no anarchy. Food Shortages are Common. [5] In the 1960s following the restoration of democracy, insecurity rose when FALN leftist guerrillas participated in violent confrontations with the government, though such clashes subsided due to lack of public support for the guerrilla movement. According to the VVO, a rate of 122 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in . In the mid-1970s Lesotho witnessed a murder rate of 141 per 100,000, while more recently Columbia's murder rate was variously estimate at between 63 and 84 per 100,000. Instead, pranes run criminal organizations outside of prisons and receive security within their facilities. In 1990, 31,861 violent crimes, 184,126 property crimes, and 6,405 drug crimes were reported. 25 Years Population Growth Rate 1.44% Sex Ratio 0-14 Years - male/female 1.04 Sex Ratio 15-24 Years - male/female 1.01 Sex Ratio 25-54 Years - male/female . Thor Halvorssen, founder of the Human Rights Foundation[17], Under Hugo Chvez, the "institution" of Venezuela deteriorated, with political instability, impunity and violent government language increasing. The new statistics come from the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ), which released its mid-year 2022 crime report on Thursday, examining crime data from 29 cities. The 2010 ranking placed Venezuela at number 164, out of 178 ranked countries. 10 Facts about Violence in Venezuela. [39], In 2009, it was reported that Venezuelan authorities would assign judicial police to Caracas area morgues to speak with families. [130], The majority of Venezuelans surveyed in the Rule of Law Index 2015 believed the judicial system was corrupt with 98% believing the correctional system was ineffective while 100% thought the government had improper influence in the criminal justice system. Bruni provided the example of the Tocorn prison that in 2013 was holding 7,000 prisoners despite having been designed for 750. [75][76][77], There was little history of organized crime in Venezuela until the start of the Bolivarian Revolution. Recent years have brought significant food shortages to Venezuela, prompting more than six million people to leave the country. Venezuela has extradition treaties with most Latin American countries. The elevated risk for local employees can be attributed to disparity between upscale expatriate neighborhoods and the rest of the city. [46] On 22 September 2014, President Maduro announced that his government would invest $47 million to create 60 new disarmament centers, and $39 million to fund a plan under which soldiers would patrol the most dangerous neighborhoods. [142], In Venezuelan prisons, inmates partake in gladiatorial matches to settle disputes. [114][115], During the presidency of the Hugo Chvez, more than 20 programs were created attempting to deter crime, though insecurity continued to increase following their implementation. This high crime rate is due to the high levels of poverty and violence in Venezuela. [5] The rise of murders in Venezuela following the Chvez presidency has also been attributed by experts to the corruption of Venezuelan authorities, poor gun control and a poor judiciary system. Individuals or small groups usually commit homicide, whereas killing in armed conflict is usually committed by fairly cohesive groups of up to several hundred members and is thus usually excluded. Varela was also known to be acquainted with El Conejo, as critic Carlos Nieto showed the reporter a photo of Varela with El Conejo on his bed. Ministra asegura que el sistema penitenciario venezolano es el mejor del mundo", "23 Inmates Killed in Venezuelan Prison Uprising, Says Rights Group", "Venezuela prison riot leaves more than 40 dead", "In Venezuela's prisons, inmates are the wardens", "The Modern History of Venezuela, Why Still So Much Crime? Chart. [132], Carlos Nieto, head of Window to Freedom, alleges that heads of gangs acquire military weapons from the state saying, They have the types of weapons that can only be obtained by the country's armed forces. [5] The Bolivarian government then believed that violence and crime were due to poverty and inequality, though while the government boasted about reducing both poverty and inequality, the murder rate continued to increase in Venezuela. According to a study by the opposition-controlled National Assembly, the annual inflation rate reached 1,300,000% in the 12 months to November 2018. An overview of the Petare neighborhood of Caracas, which has one of the highest crime rates, July 29, 2015. The higher the value, the more survey respondents believe it is high in their country. [100], According to some sources, Venezuela's corruption includes widespread corruption in the police force. Crime in Venezuela is widespread, with violent crimes such as murder and kidnapping increasing annually. From 2019 to 2020, the population change was -0.28%. . [1], While Venezuelans were suffering from shortages in Venezuela, the occasional looting of trucks full of goods became more common in the country with the robberies being committed by criminal gangs. Learn more about how Statista can support your business. In 2013, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) published the homicide report, and Venezuela was positioned as the second highest homicide rate in the world with a 1. This overview of Venezuela's criminal justice system encompasses political and legal systems, the nature and extent of crime, victims, law enforcement, the prosecutorial and judicial process, the judicial system, penalties and sentencing, the prison system, and extradition and treaties. Before President Hugo Chavez came to power, Venezuela had a homicide rate similar to that of Brazil and Mexico, of between 18 and 20 victims per 100,000 inhabitants. [146], In May 2020, inmates rioted at the Llanos Penitentiary Center in Guanare, leading to 40 deaths. [140][141], Edgardo Lander, a sociologist and professor at the Central University of Venezuela with a PhD in sociology from Harvard University explained that Venezuelan prisons are "practically a school for criminals" since young inmates come out "more sort of trained and hardened than when they went in". [27][28] Recently, the murder rate in Venezuela is the subject of some dispute according to the Associated Press, since Bolivarian government slowly denied access to homicide statistics. [5] In the 1950s, the rapid urbanization of the population saw some rises in violent crime. Nigeria - 34.52. In, InSight Crime. Victims do not have a role in sentencing unless they initiate the prosecution. Previously, huge shipments of cocaine leaving Colombia and destined for the U.S. were mostly relayed via Mexico on an Eastern Pacific route. [5] By 1993, Venezuela's murder rate stood at 21 homicides per 100,000 people. . [99] Venezuela has been ranked one of the most corrupt countries on the Corruption Perceptions Index, going back to the start of the survey in 1995. And, Qatar is the country with the least crime rate with 12.29 people per 100,000. [50] According to Anthony Daqun, former adviser to the Minister of Interior and Justice of Venezuela, "[s]taff of the Directorate of Military Counterintelligence and SEBIN (Bolivarian National Intelligence Service) operate these bands kidnapping and extortion". More than 330 police officers were murdered across Venezuela last year, . Such judicial efficiency is extraordinary in Venezuela, a country of 28 million inhabitants, of which at least five are kidnapped every day. Much like Valencia, Maracaibo offers a big city feel but has a bit of a higher crime rate. Venezuela crime rate & statistics for 2016 was 58.31, a 12.06% increase from 2015. You only have access to basic statistics. In the year 2000, the rate was only 58 per 100,000 people. The Observatory placed Venezuela's homicide rate for 2014 at 82 per 100,000, with a total of 24,980 killings recorded for the year. [121] Some have criticized Plan Patria Segura calling it a failure after crime continued to increase following its implementation. These data are based on perceptions of visitors of this website in the past 3 years. [57], Independent analyses of the documents by a number of U.S. academics and journalists have challenged the Colombian interpretation of the documents, accusing the Colombian government of exaggerating their contents. UNICEF reported that 6.9 million students in Venezuela missed almost all classroom instruction between March 2020 and February 2021. So if you have a police force, it's not about whether you're doing your job, it's about whether you're a revolutionary. For adolescents from 10 to 19 years of age, the homicide rate is 39 per 100,000 people; for males between of those ages, the rate is 74 per 100,000, while it's just 3 per 100,000 for females in . In one incident involving a crashed truck, hundreds of men, women and children looted the vehicle. Don't go expecting justice if you are a victim of crime - only a very small percentage of crimes result in trials and convictions. [96] Videos circulated on social media showing colectivos threatening protesters and shooting in the streets;[97] two protestors were shot. [13][14], In spite of significant socioeconomic problems, the murder rate in Venezuela decreased between 2017 and 2020. [1][2][3][4] [55], In 2007, authorities in Colombia claimed that through laptops they had seized on a raid against Raul Reyes, they found documents purporting to show that Hugo Chvez offered payments of as much as $300 million USD to the FARC. [92] According to the International Crisis Group, colectivos may be involved in drug trafficking, arms dealing, and car theft. Statista. In many cases, Colombian terrorists or local guerillas are believed to be the perpetrators. Between 1998-2006, there were 90.027 of murders in Venezuela. Backlinks from other websites and blogs are the lifeblood of our site and are our primary source of new traffic. Petty theft often ends in murder. Venezuela. Caracas, Venezuela reputedly has a murder rate over 100 per 100,000. The crime rate in the United State is 47.77 which is more than 55 countries. Some kidnap victims have been released after ransom payments, while others have been murdered. Victims do not have a role in sentencing unless they initiate the prosecution. Venezuela is a limited democratic federal republic, and the legal system is based on a civil model largely influenced by historical European dominance. [65], Two nephews of Maduro's wife Cilia Flores, Efran Antonio Campo Flores and Francisco Flores de Freitas, were involved in the narcosobrinos incident and found guilty for their alleged involvement in illicit activities such as drug trafficking in November 2016, with some of their funds possibly assisting President Maduro's presidential campaign in the 2013 Venezuelan presidential election and potentially for the 2015 Venezuelan parliamentary elections, with the funds mainly used to "help their family stay in power". With a murder rate of 130 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, Caracas is generally considered the most dangerous city in Latin America, if not the world. "Homicide Rate in Venezuela from 2014 to 2022 (in Number of Homicides per 100,000 Inhabitants). Venezuela under President Hugo Chvez has the fourth-highest murder rate in the world and an abysmal crime-solving rate. [45][46] He further explained that criminals felt that the Venezuelan government did not care for the problems of the higher classes, which in turn gave them a sense of impunity that created a large business of kidnapping.
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