SANTIAGO – A new report prepared by the Institute of Economy and Peace reveals that the level of peace worldwide fell during the last decade, and particularly in 2019.
The document is published annually and covers 99.7% of the world population. This new report points out that since 2011 riots have doubled and violent demonstrations were reported in 96 countries in 2019.
? These are the most peaceful countries in the world in 2020:
?? Iceland 1.078
?? New Zealand 1.198
?? Portugal 1.247
?? Austria 1.275
?? Denmark 1.283Learn more → https://t.co/TjrZ8WxnqY pic.twitter.com/BOxtloF4aV
— Global Peace Index (@GlobPeaceIndex) June 10, 2020
According to the report, at least 58% of the territories covered by the analysis had episodes of violence last year. The report highlights the cases of Chile and Hong Kong. South America was the region that experienced the greatest deterioration in the Global Peace Index. Six countries recorded a deterioration in their peace levels, while five improved their scores.
Venezuela is the least peaceful country in the region and ranks among the 15 least peaceful countries in the world. “Venezuela experienced another year of political and civil unrest, with security forces and riot troops preventing opposition lawmakers and journalists from entering Parliament in January 2020,” the text states.
Chile, meanwhile, “also experienced a turbulent year, which led to the second largest deterioration in peace levels in the region.”
The report recalls the demonstrations of October 2019 : “In many cases, these protests turned violent and left at least 25 people dead.”
“An increase in the price of metro tickets led to a rise in civil unrest, with mass-protests against inequality erupting in Santiago in October 2019, before spreading around the country. In many instances these protests turned violent, leaving at least 25 people dead. While the unrest has subsided to some extent since the peak in November, sporadic bouts of protests and isolated incidents of violence are likely to continue. These protests led to a deterioration on both the violent demonstrations and intensity of internal conflict indicators,” it added.
Chile’s deterioration was driven by falls in Security and Protection, and above all by an increase in the intensity of the internal conflict, violent demonstrations and an increase in political instability.
Globally, Chile had the fifth worst fall, down 17 places, to 45th place. It now has its lowest levels of peacefulness since the inception of the GPI. Still, it ranks second in South America, only after Uruguay, which is in 35th place globally.
