What an intelligent and insightful response!
If poverty has so significantly decreased, why the increase in crime?
It's really hard to know for sure. All we can do is speculate on this! Even all of the opposition friendly sources that cover this, speculate and can't point to exactly why. They just blame Chavez. Well, as long as we're guessing, I personally feel this is probably a factor to any increase in crime;
"And while the opposition is making itself part of these communities, offering alternatives to Chavez's social missions that provide "satisfying short term answers to problems" (as Golinger argues), it is likely (but hard to prove) that they also take advantage of crime networks dating back before Chavez and supply them with or sell them guns or drugs, to perpetrate the crime and instability."
Knowing what lengths the opposition and it's allies are willing to go, I've personally suspected this since I first heard about the numbers and it looks like i'm not the only one suspicious. This isn't that shocking when you look at things that have happened through the years in terms of Corporate/US intervention in Central and South America against the left and what they've been willing to do in that opposition.
now i answered something for you, maybe you can address the main question in this post:
http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?topic=294438.msg4196360#msg4196360