Most of world’s 50 ‘ most violent cities’ in Americas

The Americas are home to 46 of the world’s 50 “most violent cities”, and the top five most dangerous cities are in Latin America, an annual report by a Mexico- based watchdog said on Tuesday.

Among the 46 cities, 42 are in Latin America, while the other four are in the United States, the Citizen Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice said on its website.

South America has 32 violent cities, the highest number of all the continents, the report said.

The Venezuelan capital Caracas registered the highest murder rate in 2015. With a population of more than 3.2 million, the city reported 119.87 intentional homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.

It is followed by the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula with 111.03 murders per 100,000 and San Salvador, El Salvador, with 108.54 murders per 100,000.

According to the list, 21 are located in Brazil. Fortaleza, in the country’s northeastern region, ranked the highest. The city was found at 12th, followed by Natal ( 13th), Salvador ( 14th) and Joao Pessoa ( 16th).

Surprisingly, Brazil’s largest cities Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, which are widely regarded as very violent, did not show up in the list.

The report also said several cities in the region managed to cut crime last year.

The Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez and the Colombian city of Medellin made outstanding achievements in this regard. Both of them succeeded in lowering their previous sky- high murder rates.

The report also said Latin America’s battle on drugs has caused much violence in the region, as rival cartels have been competing to control the highly lucrative business.