Where is the safest place for a North American senior to retire to on
one of the Caribbean islands?

Hello brudenell and thank you for the question.

If you are looking for a quiet place to retire to in the Caribbean
then Anguilla is a relatively safe place to consider, but if you are
looking for a more 'popular' location then Cayman is worth
considering.  Below are links to articles regarding some of the safer
Caribbean islands

General information on the Cayman islands
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/cj.html

General information on Anguilla
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/av.html

Anguilla 
"It is probably one of the only really private places left in the
world today and is one of the safest Caribbean island"
http://www2.gobeach.com/anguilla/anguilla.htm

Anguilla
"Crime in Anguilla is very low and  it certainly remains one of the
safest places in the world for residents and visitors"
http://www.anguillanews.com/Anguillanews/Anguillanews_5.html

Cuba
"making Cuba by far the safest of the Caribbean islands."
http://www.1click2cuba.com/faq.html

Grenada
"Grenada is one of the safest of the Caribbean islands."
http://www.petitbacaye.com/pages/hotel.htm

Cayman  
"They  now  have  the  highest  standard  of  living  and  the highest
educational  standards  coupled  with  the  lowest  crime rate in the
Caribbean."

Online news article
"Crime a concern in Caribbean"
http://www.msnbc.com/news/827625.asp?0si=-&cp1=1

"Hard statistics on the crime rates on most of the islands are hard to
come by. But violence on some islands recently has become more serious
than the pickpocketings and purse snatchings common in many parts of
the world frequented by tourists, according to news reports and U.S.
State Department information sheets. Rising unemployment and other
economic woes have brought a rash of muggings and drug-related
violence to some formerly calm outposts."
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/travel/134301260_crime030.html

For more information regarding individual countries the CIA World fact
book is an excellent resource:
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html

Thank you for the question, and if you need any clarification of my
answer do not hesitate to ask.

Best regards (and enjoy your retirement!)

THX1138

Search strategy included:
"Caribbean island"  "crime statistics"
://www.google.com/search?hl=pt&ie=ISO-8859-1&as_qdr=all&q=%22Caribbean+island%22++%22crime+statistics%22&lr=

Thank you. Now I have some reading to do. I appreciate your research.

Excellent answer. Consider a location more than 100 feet above sea
level and at least a mile from the ocean (including rivers and inlets)
for increased safety from the storm surge that can accompany a
hurricane.  Neil

Wise thoughts. Thanks

Brudenell

Margarita Island has not even been named, 
an Island where life is not to expensive but not without crime, well
crime is on all Islands and all countries. Behaviour of people is
important when it comes Crime. When going abrout you need to lear the
cultures, what is different?
And when going to countries with different language when you have to
learn them, how do you think about people in your homeland who don't
learn your language?
retirecaribbean the caribbean is different, nice warm and Margarita
Island is free of hurricans. So retire to the caribbean with
retirecaribbean

I would say the Cayman Islands has the best mix for anyone...

If you are looking for a safe exciting place to visit then Grand
Cayman would be the place you are looking for. The Cayman Islands as
said previous has a high standard of living and as a whole is
relatively crime free.

If it's peace and quite you seek then I would suggest the sister
Islands Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. Cayman Brac has around 2,000
residents and is very quite. Little Cayman by far is the best of the
two with only around 200 residents.

You can learn more about the Cayman Islands at:

http://www.caymanhomepage.com/pages/tourism

To address something said later about the Cayman's and storms I would
suggest that the Cayman Islands is a relative safe destination still
when you look at the face of the caribbean. The Cayman Islands was
just hit last year by Hurricane Ivan but prior to this the last major
hit to the Islands was back in 1932.

How many Islands in the Caribbean can boast that fact??....NONE!!

When you consider things, it's not that someone can get hit, it's:

1) How often do they get hit?
2) How do they rebound?

I think I answered 1 above and 2 is simple. Take a visit to Cayman now
and look at picture just 6 months ago and you tell me.

Anyways...good info on the Cayman Islands and things such as Cayman
Islands Real Estate, Cayman Islands Hotels can be found at:

http://www.caymanhomepage.com/pages/tourism

Quazzywabbitt