Caracas, la violenta

Es muy triste escribir notas negativas sobre la ciudad que me vió nacer.

Pero las cosas hay que decirlas. Foreign Policy acaba de hacer una lista de las cinco ciudades más violentas del planeta. Caracas encabeza la lista.

Esto dice la nota de FP:

Population: 3.2 million
Murder rate: 130 per 100,000 residents (official)

What’s happening: The capital of Chávez country, Caracas has become far more dangerous in recent years than any South American city, even beating out the once notorious Bogotá. What’s worse, the city’s official homicide statistics likely fall short of the mark because they omit prison-related murders as well as deaths that the state never gets around to properly “categorizing.” The numbers also don’t count those who died while “resisting arrest,” suggesting that Caracas’s cops—already known for their brutality against student protesters—might be cooking the books. Many have pointed the finger at El Presidente, whose government has failed to tackle the country’s rising rates of violent crime. In fact, since Chávez took over in 1998, Venezuela’s official homicide rate has climbed 67 percent—mostly due to increased drug and gang violence. Ramón Rodríguez Chacín, who recently resigned as interior minister, claimed in July that homicide has dropped 27 percent since January—but experts say he’s just playing with numbers. As for Caracas, some speculate that its murder rate is closer to 160 per 100,000.

¡Que tristeza! Tenemos que hacer algo por Caracas. ¡Pero YA!