From AmericanProgress.org
By, Dan Restrepo and Ann Garcia
July 24, 2014
Some facts about Guatemala:
- Has the 5th most homicides in the world with a rate of 39.9 homicides per 100,000 people.
- The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimated overall gang membership at 22,000 people.
- 29.1% live in extreme poverty and 54.8 % in poverty.
Some facts about El Salvador:
- Has the 4th most homicides in the world with a rate of 41.2 homicides per 100,000 people.
- A gang truce that reduced homicides by nearly half from March 2012 to March 2013 has unraveled, and violence has spiked to a level of 70 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2014.
- The UNODC estimated 323 gang members per 100,000 people in 2012, meaning there were about 20,000 gang members and a police force of only 16,000.
- More than 13.5% live in extreme poverty and 45% live in poverty.
Some facts about Honduras:
- Has the worlds highest per-capita murder rate, which in 2012 was 90.4 homicides per 100,000 people.
- 5 years prior to that it was 50 homicides per 100,000 so it has nearly doubled.
- Gang membership is estimated at 36,000 members and the police force has fewer than 15,000 personnel.
- 42.8% live in extreme poverty and 67.4% live in poverty – almost everyone lives in some level of poverty.
Some facts about the Northern Triangle:
- In 2011, three times more children from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador arrived at the U.S. border, with a majority from Guatemala.
- The following year that figure doubled, totaling more than 20,000 unaccompanied minors at the border in fiscal year 2012, and for the first time eclipsing the number of Mexican children.
- Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador were 3 of the 5 most dangerous countries in the world in 2013.