Security & Strategic Review - February 2013 (ISSN 1741-4202)

Latin America and the Caribbean is the most violent region of the world. This emerges from the third successive listing by the Mexico-based Consejo Ciudadano para la Seguridad Pública y Justicia Penal (CCSPJP) of homicide rates across the world. The highest rates are not only concentrated mainly in Latin America and the Caribbean but also in a handful of countries within the region. One finding well worth highlighting, though, is that the picture is not static: many countries have lowered their rates, and some have dropped off the list entirely.