Homicides increased by 68% in seven years in the Northeast.
Statistical data from the Ministry of Health shows that, in seven years, the number of murders in the Northeast region increased by 68%; while in 2004 the region had 11.546 homicides, in 2011, after seven years of continuous increase in violence, this number rose to 19.405; the growth of the indicator between 2010 and 2011 was 2,8%; only Bahia deviated from the regional trend, showing a decrease of 5,4%.
Vitor Abdala
Reporter from Agência Brasil
Rio de Janeiro - Dices statistics Data from the Ministry of Health shows that, in seven years, the number of murders in the Northeast region increased by 68%. If in 2004... region had There were 11.546 homicides in 2011; after seven years of continuous increase in violence, that number rose to 19.405. The growth of the indicator Between 2010 and 2011 it was 2,8%.
Os numbers raised from Agency Brazil No. Mortality Information System (SIM)from the Ministry of Health show still In 2011, eight of the nine states in the region saw an increase in the number of homicides, while the national total fell, albeit by only 0,12%. Only Bahia bucked the regional trend, showing a decrease of 5,4%.
With 1.042 homicides, Rio Grande do Norte was the Brazilian state where violence increased the most between 2010 and 2011, with a 27,9% rise in murder cases. There, as in the Northeast region, records of violent deaths due to aggression have been increasing in that state for seven years.
Between 2004 and 2011, murders in Rio Grande do Norte tripled. In 2011, for the first time, the region surpassed the mark of one thousand homicides.
Paraíba appears in second place with an 11,1% increase in the number of homicides, followed by Alagoas (8,7%), Ceará (7,2%), Sergipe (7,1%), Maranhão (5,4%) and Piauí (5,4%). According to the coordinator of the Violence Analysis Laboratory at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (Uerj), Ignacio Cano, there is no conclusive answer regarding the increase in homicides in the Northeast.
“This was the area of the country where anti-poverty programs had the most impact. However, the rates are increasing. There is an interpretation that this growth in wealth is generating population flows, it is generating the growth of some cities. And these growths in economic activities are accompanied by flows of crime,” said Cano.
The other Brazilian region that experienced an increase in violence in 2011 was the Central-West, with a rise of 10,5%. The remaining Brazilian regions saw a decrease in homicides: North (-6,3%), South (-4,6%) and Southeast (-2,3%).
The four states in the Central-West region saw an increase in murders between 2010 and 2011, with Goiás (16,8%) and the Federal District (10,8%) standing out. Four other states also saw an increase in the number of homicides: Amazonas (19,8%), Minas Gerais (16,8%), Tocantins (14,1%), and Acre (1,8%).