MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay, Chile, Argentina less insecure than the rest of the continent

Miguel Insulza called for restraint in the coverage of police and crime issues

Uruguay, Chile and Argentina have lower levels of insecurity than the rest of Latinamerica according to secretary general of the Organization of American States Miguel Insulza who said he was against more severe punishments as a strategy to improve security.

“In spite of the social perception and public opinion alarm, countries to the south of the continent have lower rates of insecurity compared to other countries of the region”, said Insulza in an interview with a Uruguayan radio.

Insulza also rejected the idea of increasing punishments arguing it was more crucial “to ensure that whoever commits a crime effectively ends in jail”.

The OAS Secretary General who will be participating in an Inter-American conference on public security said it was important to invest in improving the quality of law enforcement officers and the judicial system, as well as strengthening the jails organization to ensure they don’t become “crime schools”.

He was critical of the emphasis given by the media covering crime, police affairs and law and order issues.

“All over the continent news begin with crimes”, he said calling for some kind of “equilibrium line” and self regulation on such coverage. However he underlined he was against legislating on the issue.