Acapulco ranks as Mexico’s most violent city and fourth most violent in the world based on the number of homicides committed last year.

But Ciudad Juárez and Chihuahua both fell off the list of the world’s 50 most dangerous urban areas.

The ranking, compiled by Mexico’s Citizens’ Council for Public Safety and Criminal Justice, put Caracas, Venezuela, in first place, San Pedro Sula, Honduras, in second and San Salvador, El Salvador, in third.

Other Mexican centers on the list were Culiacán, Sinaloa, in 17th place, Tijuana, Baja California, in 35th, Ciudad Victoria in Tamaulipas, 46th place, and Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, in 50th.

Among Latin American countries, Mexico saw some improvement last year. Five cities dropped off the list, the highest number of any Latin country.

One of those was Cuernavaca, capital of Morelos, which the study attributed to the introduction of the Mando Único, or Single Command police system, in 2013, resulting in a 28% reduction in high-impact crime.

The news might come as a surprise to new Cuernavaca Mayor Cuauhtémoc Blanco, who was in the middle of an intense war of words two weeks ago with Governor Graco Ramírez. Blanco has been strongly opposed to the Single Command system and the governor for it.

The mayor claims there is evidence its officers have not been without fault in terms of corruption and organized crime links.

In addition to Cuernavaca, Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez, Nuevo Laredo and Torreón moved off the list of the most dangerous Latin American cities last year.

Source: El Universal (sp)