By: Staff Writer
March 24, 2026
Homicides have trended downward in the Latin American and Caribbean region, except for in a few countries, notably Guyana and Haiti, where homicides are up from 2024 to 2025, a recent report from Insight Crime reveals.
Guyana’s homicide rate grew to 15.6 in 2025, up from 14.1 in 2024, with a total of 130 victims compared to the 117 recorded the year before. Organized crime is not to blame for most murders, according to the government, which says arguments and brawls that get out of control are the main cause. The rise of illegal mining and drug trafficking may be contributing to insecurity in strategic regions like Essequibo, where some murders have been linked to the illicit gold industry.
There were 8,100 killings in Haiti through November 2025, according to the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti, making it the most violent country in the region with a homicide rate of 68. Even with a month missing, the violence broke Haiti’s previous record for homicides set in 2024. Worse still, the United Nations warned that significant gang control over parts of Haiti limited their access to certain territories, meaning other murders might have gone unreported last year.
Murders increased significantly outside the capital, particularly in the Artibonite and Centre departments, where gangs expanded their operations. The government doubled down on anti-gang efforts in 2025 as an international peace mission struggled to stabilize the country. This included drone strikes and hiring private military contractors. But Haiti’s chronic corruption remained a key factor inhibiting security and stability.
Guatemala’s homicide rate rose to 17.4 in 2025 from 16.1 in 2024. The increase is likely linked to a resurgence in gang violence due to rivalries between the Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) gang and local criminal actors. The MS13 extorts bus routes and transportation networks, maintaining a significant presence in Guatemala.
There have been success stories on the homicide front in the region.
For example, Jamaica closed 2025 with a homicide rate of 23.7, nearly half of 2024’s 40.1. With 673 victims, the total was below 700 for the first time in 31 years. The government has combined states of emergency with other security measures like Zones of Special Operations (ZOSOs), which place a sustained militarized presence in specific communities alongside social intervention programs. Norwood, once one of Jamaica’s gang hotspots in northwestern Jamaica, did not record a single murder in 2024 or 2025 after implementing a ZOSO in the area.
The police have also undergone intensive human rights training to reduce police shootings, which decreased 30% in 2025. However, the country still faces major challenges, including the presence of at least 100 gangs and arms trafficking. In late May 2025, authorities seized 233 firearms and 40,000 rounds of ammunition, one of the largest seizures in the country’s history.
Also, With only 82 murders registered in 2025, El Salvador broke its record for the lowest homicide rate ever recorded in the country, reaching 1.3. That said, the government uses a much narrower definition for homicides than other countries. Bodies found in unmarked graves – a method gangs in the country regularly use to hide victims – killings by police, and murders in prisons are excluded from official data. As the government of President Nayib Bukele has cracked down on NGOs, independent media, and political opponents, a lack of transparency has made it extremely difficult to verify official data. Still, the extreme crackdown has been effective in dismantling the country’s two main gangs, the MS13 and Barrio 18, which have thus far shown no signs of making a comeback.