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Crime And Violence In Central America

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Crime And Violence In Central America
Crime and violence are now a key development issue for Central American countries. In three nations El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras crime rates are among the top five in Latin America. In the regions other three countries Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama crime and violence levels are significantly lower, but a steady rise in crime rates in recent years has raised serious concern. To put the magnitude of the problem in context, the entire population of Central America is approximately the same as that of Spain, but while Spain registered 336 murders (i.e., fewer than one per day) in 2006, Central America recorded 14,257 murders (i.e., almost 40 per day) in the same year.

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