CARACAS, 12 October 2008: Caracas now ranks as the world’s No. 1 murder capital. In recent years, the capital of Venezuela has become a much more dangerous place to live. The murder rate is now 130 per 100.000 residents, thereby surpassing cities such as Cape Town in South Africa (62 per 100.000) and even infamous Port Moresby in Papa New Guinea (54 per 100.000), reports Foreign Policy.
Even worse, the official statistics most likely do not include the real figures as prison-related murders and homicides that fail to fit proper ‘categorizing’. Furthermore, the numbers omit the murders committed by Caracas’ cops, notorious for their brutality.
Since President Hugo Chávez took office in 1998, murder rate has risen by 67 per cent and many observers blame him for not combatting drug and gang related violence in the city.
Source: Foreign Policy Magazine, www.foreignpolicy.com
