Central America


Costa Rica's Homicide Rate

Thus Far in 2024, Costa Rica’s Homicide Rate Is 2.43 per Day or 16.9 Homicides per Every 100,000 Inhabitants


Costa Rica starts 2024 with similar homicide numbers than last year; as of February 29, 2024, the country’s homicide rate stands at 2.43 per day or 16.9 homicides per every 100,000 inhabitants. Costa Rica’s Homicide Rate in 2023 was 2.47 per day or 17.2 murders per 100,000 inhabitants. Last Year, … Read more

Santiago Palomo

Anti-Corruption Commission Confronts Guatemala’s ‘Continuum of Impunity’


Santiago Palomo was minutes away from boarding a flight to New York when he got a call from Guatemala’s newly inaugurated president, Bernardo Arévalo. Palomo, a Guatemalan lawyer, and Harvard University graduate was heading home from a January break in Madrid to return to his job at a top New York law firm. Instead, Arévalo offered him a new role – heading the government’s flagship anti-corruption commission as … Read more

Honduran ex-President Juan Orlando Hernández

Honduran Ex-President Juan Orlando Hernandez Declared Guilty on Drug Trafficking Charges


Honduran ex-President Juan Orlando Hernández has been convicted of drug trafficking and weapons charges by a jury in New York. He was found guilty on all three of the counts against him. The verdict concludes three weeks marked by dramatic testimony including from former public officials, cartel members, and witnesses that described the state’s collaboration with violent criminal groups in excruciating detail … Read more

Central America Homicide Rate

Central America Homicide Rate: El Salvador Had the Lowest and Honduras the Highest Murder Rate in 2023


Violence in Central America has long been a prevailing issue, profoundly impacting the region’s social fabric and development. The violence is rooted in complex historical, economic, and social factors, and it poses significant challenges to the stability and prosperity of its inhabitants. In the 2023 Central America Homicide Rate rankings, … Read more

Homicide Rate in Latin America

Latin America Homicide Rate: Which Country Had the Lowest Rate in 2023?


According to “InSight Crime’s 2023 Homicide Round-Up,“ At least 117,492 people were murdered in Latin America and the Caribbean during 2023, putting the median homicide rate around 20 per 100,000 people. But homicide data in many countries is missing or unreliable, so the actual number is likely higher. The countries … Read more

Costa Rica Police

As Security Crisis Deepens, Costa Rica Struggles


Authorities in Costa Rica have announced 10 policies to address the country’s worsening security crisis, but the reforms do not tackle budget shortfalls and underlying causes of crime. Leaders of Costa Rica’s three branches of government met on January 30 to determine a course of action. If approved, the measures will include increasing prison sentences, expanding the scope for prosecutors to bring charges against … Read more

Juan Orlando Hernandez

US Trial of Honduras Ex-President Spotlights Thorny Security Ties


As the United States gears up for the drug trafficking trial of Honduran ex-President Juan Orlando Hernández, prosecutors face the diplomatic paradox of presenting evidence showing their government stayed friendly with a leader that it knew was corrupt. Hernández, often referred to by his initials JOH, maintained strong ties with … Read more