Violence In Latin America

According to a study done by the United Nations, Latin America is considered the most violent region in the world. It accounts for every 1 in 3 deaths worldwide. As a whole, Latin America's homicide rate is 23 deaths for every 100,000 people, nearly double the rate in Africa, which is sometimes mistakenly believed to be the most violent continent. Most of the time the crime, violence, and murder take place in Northern South America and Central America. I have a friend who emigrated here from El Salvador and she has told me countless horror stories from living there. Learning through her about the realities of other places made me question a lot. I always wondered why and how could this region of the world be so terrible? A combination of …show more content…
This is one of the factors driving homicides in Brazil; which has seen the drug trade expand beyond Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo and into the rest of the country. “Gangs have spread to the northern and northeastern regions of Brazil, home to several of the cities on the list including Salvador, Natal, João Pessoa and Fortaleza. The same dynamic is seen with larger criminal organizations, like the First Capital Command (PCC), which originated in São Paulo and now has a presence in 24 of Brazil's 27 states (Gurney 1)”. I truly believe that the longer the gangs are in control of the countries rather than law enforcement the larger the violence, crime and homicides will …show more content…
Studies have found that income inequality predicts homicide rates better than poverty does. Also, other countries with similar high levels of inequality, such as South Africa, have been found to have matching high murder rates. I think this relationship exists for at least two reasons. First, large differences in wealth create greater competition within our growing generations, they are facing high unemployment rates and have limited ability to move up in this world. “From an individual’s perspective, murder might be the consequence of young people driven to extreme measures – people who turn to violent crime or gang involvement as the easiest path for increasing wealth or status (Denny 2)”. Going off Denny’s thought, in a world stuck in poverty, how could crime and violence not exist? If Latin America was afforded the same amount of opportunity as North America, would we being hearing about their accomplishments rather than their downfalls? It is a question that always make me