Some US Cities were More Violent in 2018 than Many LatAm Cities

Many Central American cities are often referred to as the world’s murder capitals. But some US cities were more violent in 2018 than many of their LatAm counterparts. St Louis, Baltimore, Detroit, and New Orleans reported higher numbers of homicides last year.

Breitbart News, a news portal that made a comparative analysis of homicide rates per 100,000 inhabitants between US and LatAm cities, says chances of getting killed were far greater in some US cities last year than in many violent-prone countries in Central America.

With 61 killings per 100,000 people, St. Louis was far more violent last year than El Salvador (54 per 100,000) and Honduras (36 per 100,000). “In Baltimore, the homicide rate of 51 per 100,000 residents was higher than Honduras and nearly the same as in El Salvador,” the portal added.

El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala – sometimes called Central America’s Northern Triangle – have long been wracked by violence largely due to rivalry between drug gangs.

But in the United States, reasons for the spike in murder rates vary from city to city. High poverty levels, inequality, easy access to guns, and drug trade, are some of the factors.

Murder rates declined a bit in 30 major US cities in 2018, according to New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice. However, the center conceded that murder rates were above 2015 levels in some cities.

Considering an estimate by the center, murder rates are likely to rise in Washington, D.C. (by 39.5%) and Houston (by 22.6%).