América Latina

Galloping corruption

Latinamerica Press

23/01/2013

Opinión

^-A ⁺A

Bribery, abuse of power and under-the-table agreements are common in the region.

Nine of the 30 Latin American and Caribbean countries in the 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index, presented in December by Transparency International, have low corruption rates, scoring higher than 50 points in a scale that ranges from 0 (high corruption) to 100 (low corruption).

The results show that these nine countries — Barbados, Bahamas, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominica, Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Uruguay — are the same countries that for years have maintained scores between 70 and 50. At the other extreme are Venezuela and Haiti, with less than 20 points, considered the most corrupt nations of the continent.

In a press statement, Transparency International pointed out that this evaluation, which includes 176 countries of the world, proves that corruption is “one of the major threats facing humanity.”

“Corruption destroys lives and communities, and undermines countries and institutions. It generates popular anger that threatens to further destabilize societies and exacerbate violent conflicts,” states the press release. “Corruption translates into human suffering, with poor families being extorted for bribes to see doctors or to get access to clean drinking water. It leads to failure in the delivery of basic services like education or healthcare. It derails the building of essential infrastructure, as corrupt leaders skim funds.”

Huguette Labelle, president of Transparency International, invoked the governments “to integrate anti-corruption actions into all aspects of decision-making.”

“The Corruption Perceptions Index results demonstrate that there are still many societies and governments that need to give a much higher priority to this issue,” indicated Labelle. “They must prioritize better rules on lobbying and political financing, make public spending and contracting more transparent, and make public bodies more accountable.” — Latinamerica Press.

LATIN AMERICA/THE CARIBBEAN Corruption Perceptions Index
	2011	2012
Barbados	78	76
Chile	72	72
Uruguay	70	72
Bahamas	73	71
Saint Lucía	70	71
Puerto Rico	56	63
Saint Vincent and Grenadines	58	62
Dominica	52	58
Costa Rica	48	54
Cuba	42	48
Brazil	38	43
Trinidad and Tobago	32	39
El Salvador	34	38
Peru	34	38
Jamaica	33	38
Panama	33	38
Suriname	30	37
Colombia	34	36
Argentina	30	35
Mexico	30	34
Bolivia	28	34
Guatemala	27	33
Ecuador	27	32
Dominican Republic	26	32
Nicaragua	25	29
Honduras	26	28
Guyana	25	28
Paraguay	22	25
Venezuela	19	19
Haiti	18	19
*100 to 0, where 100 is low corruption and 0 is high corruption Source: Transparency International