Micah Zenko points to Central America:
Victims of intentional homicide account for a staggering 75 percent of all violent deaths. The region suffering the brunt of lethal violence is Central America, which has an average rate of 29 victims per 100,000 people, followed by Southern Africa (27) and the Caribbean (22); in comparison, the homicide rate in the United States was 4.5.
He sees the drug war as the principal cause of the violence:
The primary force behind the high homicide rates [in central America] is increasing transnational criminal activity, fueled by the region’s strategic location between the major drug producers in Latin America and the illicit drug markets in the United States. Moreover, Central American governments either lack the capability or the will to confront the many security and governance challenges posed by drug trafficking organizations.
(Photo: Forensic experts work in the car where former chief of the Directorate for the Fight against Drug Trafficking and presidential candidate for the Christian Democracy party Alfredo Landaverde was shot dead in Tegucigalpa, Honduras on December 7, 2011. By Orlando Sierra/AFP/Getty Images.)
The Dish 
