Violence continues to grow in La Guajira, a department in northern Colombia which occupies a peninsula bordering Venezuela and the Caribbean Sea, reports Diario del Norte.
A recent official report released by the National Institute of Legal and Forensic Sciences stated that violent deaths have increased by 70% in 2010. These numbers were based solely on autopsies and do not take into account cases from the Wayuu indigenous community, who do not take their dead to the morgue. If Wayuu deaths were included in the statistics, the number of violent deaths would likely increase significantly.
The influence of armed groups has grown significantly within the region. Unlike in the 1970s and 1980s, these groups did not arrive from outside the region, but are a local problem.
In September 2010, 11 people were murdered, and four died in traffic accidents in Riohacha. In Maicao, five people died in accidents. This was a sharp increase compared to the figures from 2009.
The report highlights the fact that most of these violent crimes are committed with impunity.