Crime Hobbles Venezuela's Economy

The murder on Jan. 6 of Monica Spear, a well-known actress and former Miss Venezuela, and her husband attracted world attention to a problem that has plagued Venezuelans and their economy for years: violence. When her Corolla broke down, Spear was robbed and shot in front of her 5-year-old daughter, who survived a gunshot wound.

Venezuela says the country’s murder rate is 39 per 100,000 people, but the Venezuelan Violence Observatory, a nongovernmental organization, says the official figure is too low; it estimates that 24,763 people were killed last year, or 79 per 100,000 people. Along with kidnappings, thefts, and extortions, that’s earned Venezuela the No. 3 spot, after Honduras and Guatemala, as the economy most damaged by violence, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2013-2014. The country is also the worst in the world for attracting talent and second worst after Myanmar for retaining it, according to the survey.