Many See Drug
Trafficking
Widespread,
Rising in Latin
America
By Julie Ray and
Steve Crabtree
Gallup surveys
suggest illicit
drug trafficking
is common in
communities
throughout much
of Latin
America,
including in
some of the most
well-developed
countries such
as Chile and
Costa Rica.
At least half of
residents in
Brazil, Costa
Rica, Argentina,
Chile, Panama,
Venezuela, and
Uruguay say
illicit drug
trafficking or
drug sales are
taking place in
their
neighborhoods.
While Mexico's
problems with
drug trafficking
often make the
news, Gallup's
surveys in the
region in 2009
show the problem
is as
widespread, if
not more so, in
other Latin
American
countries.
Forty-three
percent of
Mexicans say
illicit drug
trafficking is
taking place in
their
neighborhoods,
which is average
for the region,
but adults in
several
countries are
far more likely
to say this is
happening where
they live.
Adults in
Brazil, Costa
Rica, Argentina,
Chile, Panama,
Venezuela, and
Uruguay since
the early days
of Mexico's drug
war in 2007 have
generally been
more likely than
Mexicans to say
illicit drugs
are being sold
in their
neighborhoods.
Further, while
the overall
trend stayed
flat in Mexico
between 2008 and
2009, the
numbers climbed
in some of the
region's other
largest
countries,
including
Argentina,
Chile, and
particularly
Brazil, where
the figure
climbed to 70%
in 2009. In
Colombia, where
anti-drug
efforts have
been ongoing for
more than a
decade, there
was no change
from 2008 to
2009.
Many of the
countries where
majorities say
illicit drug
sales are taking
place in their
neighborhoods
are drug transit
countries, part
of the pipelines
to destinations
in either North
America or
Europe.
In each of these
countries, the
percentage who
say drug sales
are increasing
is higher than
the 33% median
for the region.
In addition to
being more
likely than
residents of any
other Latin
American country
to say illicit
drug sales are
taking place in
their
neighborhoods,
Brazilians are
the most likely
to see the
problem as
increasing
(74%). Mexicans,
again, are about
average for the
region.
Survey Methods
Results are
based
face-to-face
interviews with
approximately
1,000 adults,
aged 15 and
older, conducted
in 2009 in
Argentina,
Bolivia, Brazil,
Chile, Colombia,
Costa Rica,
Dominican
Republic,
Ecuador, El
Salvador,
Guatemala,
Honduras,
Mexico,
Nicaragua,
Panama,
Paraguay, Peru,
Uruguay, and
Venezuela. For
results based on
the total sample
of national
adults, one can
say with 95%
confidence that
the maximum
margin of
sampling error
ranges from ±3.3
percentage
points in Brazil
to ±3.9
percentage
points in Peru.
In addition to
sampling error,
question wording
and practical
difficulties in
conducting
surveys can
introduce error
or bias into the
findings of
public opinion
polls.
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