Venezuela faces huge homicide rate, 80% committed by firearms, as its president hangs by a thread in Havana

And Mexico remains in solid competition for some of the world's deadliest cities

Guadalajara -
On Sept. 6, 2011, in what was then just MGRR's third report of the almost 900 published to date, the topic was Rampant street crime in Venezuela. It appears things haven't got any better in Caracas.

Venezuela is waiting today for its president to return from Havana, where he is recuperating from the latest of several cancer surgeries in the last 18 months. He's scheduled to be sworn in for another term - his fourth - on Jan. 10. But there's every reason to doubt that he'll make it on time, or indeed that he'll make it back at all. Reports from many news agencies this morning say he has suffered yet another setback, and that his condition is grave (As Venezuelans head to the polls, Hugo Chávez proves all the prophets wrong). Earlier today a Venezuelan doctor told a Colombian radio station that Chávez is in his ultimate days, if not hours, and is far too sick to begin a new term less than two weeks hence.

In the meantime, while the country's vice president and his top ministers fret over the Bolivarian comandante's health, they have something else to worry about - those just published crime stats.

Venezuela is located at the top of the South American continent, and based on a 2011 census has about 29 million people. In 2012 the nation reported almost 19,000 murders - 52 per day. It was almost the same last year (18,850). That's on the order of 65 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, a high number even when measured even against very violent Latin American countries which are less developed and educated than is oil rich Venezuela.

By way of comparison, almost a year ago the United Nations reported that in Mexico there are 20 homicides per 100,000 people, in war torn Guatemala 40, in El Salvador 66 and in Honduras 82. Based upon 2010 data the U.S. homicide rate is 4.8 per 100,000, and Canada's is an astonishingly low 1.6.

All of those numbers, of course, are for the nations as a whole. Local murder rates can and do vary dramatically. By way of illustration, five of the 10 most violent cities in the world, as of January 2012, were in Mexico: Ciudad Juárez, Acapulco, Torreón, Chihuahua and Durango. The ratings were based upon 2011 murders per 100,000 residents.

A university analyst says that the government's diligent efforts to cut the homicide rate have proved wholly ineffective, causing more than a little embarrassment for Chávez's government. In Venezuela, he said, "people kill for the sake of killing." Eight of every 10 murders are carried out with firearms, and the rest with knives or "whatever is handy." The sprawling capital of Caracas remains the most deadly metropolis, with over 3,500 homicides this year.

Dec. 17, 2012 - The Second Amendment, NRA leave their mark in Mexico
Oct. 10, 2011 - In Latin America, youth itself is the primary risk factor for homicide