06-17-2019, 02:32 PM
(06-17-2019, 02:10 PM)Apoc Wrote: This isn't for tourists, but I suspect a handful of randomly clustered deaths has made it an interesting news story, which gets reported and makes it seem like a new problem.
http://vifreepress.com/2018/01/united-na...all-world/
The U.S. Virgin Islands has the fourth highest murder rate in the world, according to a study done by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Only El Salvador, Honduras and Venezuela have more murders per capita than the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to the latest statistics from the UNODC.
“Apparently, all else being equal, you have a one in 2,000 chance of being murdered,” the Virgin Islands Free Press’ crime expert said. “Not a large probability. But, imagine if that were the odds of dying in a plane crash every flight — nobody would be flying — that is for certain.”
In fact, the Caribbean has three countries in the Top 10 for murders. The U.S. Virgin Islands ranked fourth with 52.64 murders per 100,000 people, followed by Jamaica in fifth place with 43.21 and St. Kitts and Nevis was ninth with 33.55 murders per 100,000 residents.
A deceptive and largely irrelevant statistic as it applies to Tourism. Those murders are happening in inland resident communities, and largely gang driven, with almost zero risk to tourists.
The Nevis/St kitts stat you reference? Last year we went to Nevis so we looked into it. The murder rate was because a couple gangs got their jimmies rustled (over I can only guess was the lucrative giftshop trinket trade) and killed each other. It was only a few murders (and none tourists), but the population of the island is so tiny, it made the "per capita" numbers look huge.
The stuff going on in DR is directly affecting tourists and resorts, so if you want to equate that with gang violence just to try to make yourself look smart on the internet then you do you, but I bet you don't book a DR vacation...….
Now Mexico's cartel violence on the other hand is a different story......