Crime and Violence in Central America: A Development Challenge docx

[...]... Colombia Costa Rica DR Ecuador El Salvador Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Uruguay Venezuela Argentina Brazil Chile Colombia Costa Rica DR Ecuador El Salvador Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Uruguay Venezuela -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Change in Index (Range: 0-100) -12 -11 -10 -9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 Change... State Institutions in Latin America Trust in criminal justice system Approval of taking law in own hands Belief that authorities should respect rule of law Argentina Brazil Chile Colombia Costa Rica DR Ecuador El Salvador Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Uruguay Venezuela -12 -11 -10 -9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 Change in Index(Range: 0-100) 0 Argentina Brazil...factor in the sparsely populated Petén region in the north In Honduras, rates are highest along the Atlantic coast, in the area around Tegucigalpa, and on the Guatemalan border In the remaining countries, homicides tend to be higher on the Atlantic coast Income levels are also a factor An analysis of household data in Guatemala indicates that the probability of being a crime victim increases with... supplementation, mental stimulation, educational activities, and parenting training, improve human capital outcomes over the long term, including educational achievement, health and nutrition, and also reduce risky behaviors, such as crime and violence, domestic abuse and substance abuse The inclusion of effective parenting training (see next paragraph) in ECD programs has been singled out in evaluations as one... violence (as a percentage of annual GDP) are similar to the average costs in Latin America However, this is a source of little comfort for the people of El Salvador, a country that has the second highest DALY costs in Latin America behind Colombia, and ranks 12th worldwide Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua rank 21st, 36th and 40th, respectively, in the worldwide DALY ranking At the other extreme, Panama and. .. DALYs are computed, they can be translated into dollar terms by monetizing time in each country, using, for example, annual GDP per capita to value one DALY Against this background, Figure 4 shows the estimated value of DALYs for the six Central American countries as well as the average for all of Latin America The figure indicates that for Central America as a whole, the health costs of crime and violence. .. confront violence The establishment of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (Comisión Internacional Contra la Impunidad en Guatemala, CICIG) reflects the inability of regular state authorities to handle investigations against powerful interests entrenched in government In a study conducted on public insecurity in Central America and Mexico, as part of the Americas Barometer Insights... businesses are also concerned with the upward trends in crime and violence and with how a significant increase could affect their countries’ institutions III THE DRIVERS OF CRIME This report analyzes the key drivers of crime and violence in Central America: drug trafficking, youth violence and gangs, and the widespread availability of firearms Drug trafficking stokes violence in several ways, including... rate could boost per capita annual income growth by a full 1.0 percent in El Salvador and by 0.7 percent in Guatemala and Honduras If Nicaragua and Panama achieved similar cuts, their growth rate would rise by 0.3 percent Although these estimates may exaggerate the exact potential for growth, they nonetheless indicate that crime and violence do carry significant costs in terms of growth II.3 Crime and. .. one weapon for every ten people, ranging from a low of 2.8 per 100 people in Costa Rica to nearly 16 per 100 people in Guatemala Certainly not all firearms in circulation can be traced back to the armed conflict Between 2000 and 2006—several years after the last of Central America’s civil wars had ended—arms imports increased in all six Central American countries In Guatemala, for example, the value . Venezuela Uruguay Peru Paraguay Panama Nicaragua Mexico Jamaica Honduras Haiti Guyana Guatemala El Salvador Ecuador DR Costa Rica Colombia Chile Brazil Argentina Change in Index. 25 30 Panama Jamaica Honduras Haiti Dominican Rep. Colombia Costa Rica Mexico Brazil Nicaragua Paraguay Guatemala El Salvador Bolivia Venezuela Uruguay Chile Ecuador Peru Argentina % of Adults. 20 Uruguay Panama Jamaica Dominican Republic Costa Rica Paraguay Nicaragua Mexico Honduras Bolivia Peru Brazil Colombia Chile El Salvador Guatemala Argentina Haiti Venezuela Ecuador % of Adults