The Killing Zone

As long-time readers have noticed, COTTonLINE pays attention to Latin America. It is our "backyard" or hemisphere, the U.S. sphere of influence, and I've visited most of the countries, several repeatedly.

The Daily Mail (U.K.) has a story we'd rather not see, about Latin America setting records for murders. Hat tip to Lucianne.com for the link.

Latin America has suffered a 'breathtaking' wave of homicidal violence with more than 2.5 million murders since 2000, a report has revealed.

The region accounts for a third of the world's murders - despite being home to only eight per cent of the global population, according to the Brazilian think-tank, the Igarapé Institute.

About 25 per cent of all global homicides take place in four of the region's countries - Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico and Brazil.

A careful look at the figures suggest several Caribbean countries also have relative high rates of homicide, if relatively small numbers, because their populations are also small. Examples would include Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas.