Argentina falls 20 places in global safety rankings

Argentina has dropped 20 places in the 2026 Global Peace Index, now ranking 72nd out of 163 countries. The report by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) highlights a decline attributed to an increase in clashes during public demonstrations and a rise in deaths linked to internal conflicts, primarily driven by organized crime in Santa Fe province.

Argentina's overall score deteriorated by 6.1%, marking the most significant percentage decline in South America for this edition. The "ongoing conflicts" category saw a substantial drop of 18.9%. The index reported that deaths from internal conflicts rose from zero to 114, with internal conflicts worsening by 10.5%.

According to the IEP, the data on conflict deaths comes from the Uppsala University's Program on Data Conflict (UCDP). It indicates that 97% of these deaths (111 out of 114) were attributed to "unilateral violence" by criminal gangs against civilians. The remaining three deaths were linked to clashes between factions. Geographically, these fatalities were concentrated in Santa Fe, with 106 deaths occurring in the Greater Rosario area.

The IEP attributes these events to the criminal organization Los Monos and another unidentified gang operating in the same region. While drug-related violence is not new, the situation in Rosario only recently met the index's methodological thresholds to be classified as an "internal conflict." This explains why previous editions showed zero deaths in this indicator for Argentina.

Furthermore, Argentina's "safety and security" score decreased by 3.1%, influenced by a 71.4% increase in the indicator for "violent demonstrations." The report links this trend to protests during 2025 related to the government's austerity program, including violent responses to demonstrations by retirees in Buenos Aires.

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the situation of Rosario had been documented for years, but only in 2025 did it reach the methodological thresholds that the index uses to classify it as an “internal conflict.”