MEXICO CITY, August 24 (RIA Novosti) - Venezuela has the highest danger rate in the world, a Gallup consultancy research showed.
"In 2013, just 19 percent of Venezuelan adults said they felt safe walking alone at night in the city or area where they live. Furthermore, just 26 percent of Venezuelans expressed confidence in the local police and 22 percent reported that money had been stolen from them or another household member in the last 12 months," Gallup said in a statement.
According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the political and economic crisis in Venezuela sent the murder rate u to 53.7 per 100,000 people in 2012, when it ranked the second-highest in the world after Honduras, Gallup said.
Venezuela is followed by Bolivia, Peru and Paraguay on Gallup's Law and Order Index. Nicaragua, Panama and Chile ranked the safest countries in Latin America. Ecuador showed the greatest safety improvement in the past five years.
"The biggest jump was in Ecuador, where all three indicators (number of thefts, perceived security, and confidence in the police) improved considerably. Ecuador's President Rafael Correa attributes his administration's success in fighting crime to improving arms control, increasing the judiciary's independence, and campaigns reinforcing efforts to capture the country's most dangerous criminals," Gallop explained.
In the same research, Ukraine ranked the least safe among the Post-Soviet states, followed by Moldova and Russia, while Uzbekistan ranked the safest.
