Crime and insecurity: Caracas vs Buenos Aires

Caracas: Venezuela remains one of the deadliest countries in the world with
increasing violence and criminal activity in 2016, at times reaching unprecedented
levels. The government of Venezuela often attempts to refute claims of increasing
crime and murder rates; however, their claims are widely rejected by independent
observers. Official crime figures are not released by government officials, but
unofficial statistics indicate that most categories of crime increased in 2016, despite
unprecedented levels in 2015. The majority of Caracas’ crime and violence remains
attributed to mobile street gangs and organized crime groups. Caracas is notorious
for the brazenness of high-profile violent crimes (murder, robbery, kidnapping)
committed in neighborhoods across the city, at all hours. The Mexican think tank
Citizen’s Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice listed three locations in
Venezuela among the world’s top 10 most dangerous cities; Caracas was listed as
number one, with Maturin and Valencia listed as number five and number seven,
respectively.
Violent crime is the greatest threat in Caracas, affecting local Venezuelans and
foreigners. Venezuelan NGO Observatory of Violence (OVV) listed Caracas as the
most violent city in the world in 2016, and Venezuela as the second most murderous
nation after El Salvador. The OVV has tracked violence through police sources and
media reporting. In its annual report, OVV stated that Venezuela had over 28,479
homicides in 2016, a rate of 91.8 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. This number is
up from VVO’s reported rate of 90 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2015 based on a total
of 27,875 for the year. In Caracas, the rate is even higher, with OVV indicating a rate
of 140 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.
2016 was also a deadly year for law enforcement. Unofficial statistics indicate that
241 police officers and law enforcement personnel were killed countrywide, many of
whom were victims of targeted assassination. These acts usually occur to gain
access to the victim’s weapons and ammunition, fueling further criminal activity.

Buenos Aires: In the year 2010 of this year- the latest year that statistics are available
- Argentina had a murder rate of 5.5 per 100,000 population. There was a total of
2,237 murders in Argentina in 2010. Argentina has long suffered from widespread
and endemic corruption. Corruption remains a serious problem in the public and
private sector even though the legal and institutional framework combating
corruption is strong in Argentina.
A 1996 New York Times article noted that “payoffs, kickbacks and government
corruption are considered part of everyday life” in Argentina. Bribery and fraud are
also found common among the private sector, and the lack of transparency in
government regulations and laws has triggered an increased uncertainty among
investors.
The Financial Times noted in 2013 that in Argentina corruption is widely considered
to be “engrained,” and “there is the sense that public officials are untouchable.” In
May 2013, sociologist Atilio Borón lamented that “the Argentinian is very accustomed
to the idea that governments are corrupt, and does not seem shocked at acts of
corruption,” and that the corruption of politicians therefore does not prevent their
reelection. “This is an economy that for the past 20 years has tolerated a legal drain
of over 160 billion dollars,” he added, “and this it now coming to take its revenge.” A
CIPCE (Center for the Investigation and Prevention of Economic Crimes) study
concluded that public sector corruption alone cost the national treasury around
US$10 billion from 1980 to 2006.
A major Argentine newspaper, La Nación, editorialized in October 2013 that although
corruption has been a major problem in Argentina since the 1890s, it has been “on
the increase" since the 1990s.
Wikileaks cables released in 2011 revealed that diplomats from the United States
and several other Western countries had expressed deep concern about the current
levels of corruption in Argentina. “Under President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner,”
reported the Heritage Foundation in 2013, “respect for markets and the rule of law
has deteriorated and corruption has boomed.”
According to Transparency International, Argentina has sufficient legislation and
institutions dedicated to the prosecution of corruption in the public sector, but
enforcement is highly inadequate, with the result that “impunity continues to trump
integrity”.