Wars between criminal gangs and the proliferation of illegal weapons have turned violence into the most pressing concern of the Governments of the Caribbean countrieswhere murder rates far exceed the world average.
(Read also: Gaza, Ukraine and discussion with China: 2023, critical year for US diplomacy.)
The general secretary of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), Carla Barnett, defined this scourge as “an epidemic.”who urged “increasing human and financial resources, addressing the root causes of crime and mitigating the devastating impact of violence on societies.”
According to the 2023 'Caribbean Firearms Study' report, The rate of violent deaths in Caricom countries is almost three times the global average and, in more than half of the homicides, firearms are used.
Caricom members are Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.
Also the latest study by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)) indicated that the Caribbean has experienced “the most spectacular increase in homicidal violence in recent yearslargely due to the intense competition between gangs for drug markets.
Jamaica ranks first on the planet in terms of victims of lethal interpersonal violence, with a rate of 53.3 murders per 100,000 inhabitantsand even in small countries like Saint Lucia this reaches 36.7, according to UNODC data.
The former prime minister of Saint Lucia Allen Chastanet told Efe that in the last decade there has been “a significant increase in murders, driven largely by gang violence.”
“Our local Police are not capable of facing these problems and we do not address it as a regional problem,” lamented the now leader of the opposition in Parliament.
Jamaica, as a country 'at war'
According to data from the Jamaica Police Force, 1,498 people were murdered in 2022while on December 16, 2023 the number of violent deaths reached 1,349.
(Keep reading: Release of Álex Saab: who wins and who loses with the Biden-Maduro negotiation).
“Jamaica is not a country that is at war, but our murder rate, “Our deaths from violence are equivalent to countries that are at war.”Prime Minister Andrew Holness said last month.
The Jamaican Government frequently declares states of public emergency for certain districts, which give more powers to the security forces.
Last November, This exceptional measure was established in Saint James, scene of a war between gangs and the murder that month of several children.
🇯🇲 #Jamaica l Jamaican authorities declared a state of public emergency for the entire district of Saint James, the recent scene of several murders, including children, and a gang war.#Violencehttps://t.co/beYUAh4Wke
— Metropolitan Angel (@angelmetropoli) November 9, 2023
older
Another country where violence has worsened in recent times is Trinidad and Tobago, where the annual increase in the homicide rate was 22%. up to 39.5 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
In 2022, there were more than 600 murders, up from 352 a decade earlier. “It is a war that we cannot afford to lose,” added Trinidadian Prime Minister Keith Rowley. who noted that in the last 15 years the allocation to policing has increased from 32% of the Homeland Security budget to 43%.
Fight against illegal weapons from the United States
The Prime Minister of the Bahamas, Philip Davis, reported this year that 98.6% of all illegal firearms recovered in his country have their direct origin in the United States.
“We have asked the U.S. government and U.S.-based weapons manufacturers to cooperate with Caricom member states,” said Davis, who heads a country where the homicide rate is 31.2 percent. 100,000 inhabitants.
(We recommend: 'I always wanted to kill': terrifying messages from the Prague shooter, this is his identity).
The Bahamas, along with Antigua and Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, joined Mexico in a $10 billion lawsuit against several US gun manufacturers those who hold responsible for the damage caused in their territories by that merchandise.
About, Chastanet told Efe that it is clear that the Caribbean countries have not yet managed to reduce illegal weapons arriving from the US. In his opinioncriminal gangs will continue to have access to these weapons because the borders of the countries in the region “are not properly patrolled.”
EFE
#Violence #39epidemic39 #greatly #worries #Caribbean #governments