Security & Strategic Review - January 2016 (ISSN 1741-4202)

A report published on 26 January by local think-tank, Observatorio Fundación Propuestas (Fundapro), shows that there were record levels of violent crime in Uruguay in 2015. The report found that 2015 set a ‘‘historic record’’ in the number of homicides since the government began systematically recording such data in 1980. Fundapro, which has ties to centre-right opposition Partido Colorado (PC) party, used information published in the press to count and catalogue homicides, and it argues that while this leaves room for error, the risk of under-reporting is greater than the risk of over-reporting of crime. Either way the release of the report has sparked concern about rising insecurity in Uruguay and the authorities’ apparent inability to stem the tide.