Venezuela,Honduras have world's highest murder rates

Honduras retains the world's highest murder rate, according to a United Nations report published on Thursday, with the Americas overtaking Africa as the region with the most peacetime murders per 100,000 people.

According to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime's report, Central America fared particularly badly. Belize had a murder rate of 44.7, while El Salvador's was 41.2 per 100,000.

Torn apart by gang warfare and invaded by Mexican drug cartels, the Central American nation of Honduras had a 2012 murder rate of 90.4 homicides per 100,000 people, almost double Venezuela's rate of 53.7.

In a previous report in 2011, Honduras topped the list, with El Salvador in second place and Venezuela in third.

In the U.N.'s latest report, the Americas overtook Africa as the region with most murders, thanks to a surge in organized crime, which is often funded from the proceeds of drug smuggling.

Central American countries that have a long history of gang violence, such as Honduras, have seen the problem worsened in recent years after Mexican drug cartels moved in, taking advantage of shaky public institutions to set up key logistical operations for moving drugs from South America to the United States.

Other countries with high murder rates include Guatemala, with 39.9 murders per 100,000; South Africa with 31; Colombia with 30.8; and Brazil with 25.2.