El Salvador Murder Rate Goes Up

Blatantly stolen from Tim's El Salvador Blog, the cycle of violence in El Salvador continues, its what happens when you have a lot of AK-47's and unemployed folks. The numbers are staggering:

The unending wave of homicides
Maybe I should not keep reporting the statistics, but the increase in the murder rate does not seem to be leveling off. If anything, it is increasing. Here are the most recent statistics: In July El Salvador saw 375 homicides, or an average of more than 12 per day. A year before the average was only 8 per day. So far this year, there have been a total of 2040 homicides, compared to 1501 for the same period in 2004. According to the Minister of Governance, 55% of the homicides were gang-related, 38% stem from personal disputes, 4% from "common crime" and 3% from narcotics trafficking. [These figures on the causes of murders are highly suspect, and subject to manipulation to fit the government's view of the problem since only a small percentage of the murders in the country are ever solved].