Nicaragua One of Safest Countries in Central America
Date: 11/11/2007
November 12, 2007
Managua, Nicaragua
Good news for Nicaragua. It remains one of the safest countries in Central America, according to police commissioner Aminta Granera. The latest statistics suggest that Nicaragua is likely to close out the year with 14 homicides for every 100,000 people, nearly half the average of the rest of the region.
El Salvador is the most dangerous, with 58 murders for every 100,000 people, followed by 48 in Guatemala and 44 in Honduras. Bank robberies are virtually unheard of Nicaragua, with just one bank hold-up happening in 2007, compared to 24 in Guatemala and 18 in Honduras.
Though Nicaragua shares similar war-torn pasts as El Salvador and Guatemala, there are far fewer gang problems here. Nicaragua also compares well with the rest of Latin America in property thefts. Only 200 vehicles were stolen in Nicaragua this year, versus more than 8,500 on the island of Puerto Rico.
Crime is often associated with poverty, but despite being the poorest country in Central America, Nicaragua even fares well against much richer countries. Panama, which has a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) nearly seven times larger than Nicaragua, also registered 14 homicides for every 100,000 people in 2007.
International experts credit Nicaragua’s prevention and community strategies for keeping crime so low. In a recent poll, police commissioner Granera ranked as the most popular public figure. Theft and crime are still a problem, especially in a handful of poorer Managua neighborhoods. But visitors and residents are far safer here than most of Central America, and for that matter, some large U.S. cities.
Your Latin America Insider,
Suzan Haskins
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