Fewer Murders

For the last two years Honduras has been the murder capital of the world, far outstripping any other country, but that is changing.  

This year, Venezuela will close out the year with the highest frequency in the world, with 82 murders per 100.000 population. 

Honduras, on the other hand, will show its first major reduction in homicides in the last 3 years.  According to the Observatorio de Violencia of the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras, Honduras will end the year with a murder rate of 67 to 69 per 100,000 population.

That, according to the Observatorio de Violencia director Migdonia Ayestas, is a reduction of 10-12 murders per 100,000 population.  In 2013 the Observatorio de Violencia reported that Honduras had a murder rate of 79 per 100,000 population.  To reduce that to 67-69 per 100,000 population is real progress.

This, however, is only a start.  The UN considers a murder rate of less than 8.8 per 100.000 population to be the goal for protecting citizens against violence.  Honduras has a long way to go to reach that.