Crime in Latin America

With spiraling inflation and a distrust in banks after the country's 2001 default, Argentines are keeping more cash on hand. And that means robbery rates are spiraling, too.

The high crime rate throughout Latin America has many causes. In many countries, residents claim that police and security force members are part of the problem. In Venezuela, one family says the police are linked to multiple killings that have devastated the family.

When visiting San Pedro Sula, the bloodiest town in Honduras, it's advisable to arrive early in the morning, when the drug gangs are still asleep.

The Colombian city was the world's murder capital in the 1990s, but it managed to turn its fortunes around. Homicides were cut by 80 percent and made big gains on a number of fronts. But the city still faces many challenges in a region plagued by violence.

Mexico City has largely been spared the drug violence in other parts of the country. But a brazen daylight abduction of 12 young people from a Mexico City bar is putting the spotlight on one of the capital's roughest neighborhoods, and putting the popular mayor on the defensive.