BOGOTA (TrustLaw) - In a region known for widespread corruption, a series of initiatives in Latin America is helping citizens and the local media expose graft and create a climate of openness. But experts say laws should be better enforced and governments must show a greater commitment to fighting corruption.
Fourteen years since the Organisation of American States (OAS) adopted the Inter-American Convention against Corruption - a binding agreement ratified by 33 of the 34 OAS member states that pledged to introduce anti-graft measures - serious gaps remain in its implementation.
"Progress has been slow,” said Manfredo Marroquin, Central America coordinator with watchdog Transparency International. “Political will to tackle corruption seriously has increased and the issue has become more high-profile but this has not yet translated into real action and an integral effort to deal with its root causes."
While levels and forms of graft vary across the region, corruption in the public and private sector and among the political elite undermines democracy and economic development in Latin America and jeopardises security, says the OAS.
The regional body also makes the link between corruption and the region’s high levels of poverty, violence and inequality, despite robust economic growth in recent years.
Over the past decade, many Latin American countries - in particular, Chile, Brazil and Mexico - have introduced anti-corruption measures, ranging from laws on whistleblower protection, more transparent systems for government procurement, public contracting and hiring public officials, tougher laws on money laundering and tax evasion, stricter oversight for political party financing, and public blacklists of companies that commit fraud.
THE RIGHT TO KNOW
One of the most popular anti-graft measures being used in Latin America is access to information laws, also known as freedom of information acts, which allow citizens to request information from public and government bodies on anything from how public contracts are awarded to how state budgets are spent.
"Corruption thrives in secrecy and in darkness. Access to information is an antidote to that," says Laura Neuman, associate director of the Americas programme and access to information manager at the U.S.-based Carter Centre.
"It helps diminish back room deals and allows communities to make sure government is working for them in their interests, and why in some cases, they are not getting what they expected or were promised from the government," she added.
In Mexico, the Federal Institute of Access to Public Information (INFODF), set up four years ago, acts as a high-profile watchdog, ensuring that rights on information disclosure are promoted. So far this year, it has received over 90,000 information requests from citizens, with most relating to social security, education and health issues.
Several Central American countries have also passed access to information laws in the last five years, which are starting to produce tentative results.
"In Guatemala, we’ve noticed more active participation among civil society groups accessing public information who then feedback to local communities. They’re interested in knowing about what municipal funds are being spent on and why infrastructure projects are not completed," said Marroquin from Transparency International, who is based in Guatemala.
And refusing to provide requested information has resulted in political casualties. Earlier this year, Guatemala’s minister of education was forced to resign after disobeying a court order to release public data about social welfare programmes.
LACK OF ENFORCEMENT
Yet despite new anti-corruption laws, many countries in Latin America are hobbled by weak rule of law, over-stretched and under-resourced judicial systems, and failure to prosecute corrupt officials.
Anti-corruption bodies tend to lack independence and political clout, and in some cases, have been corrupt themselves. All this continues to undermine efforts to tackle graft, experts say.
"If the laws are not implemented in practice and enforced, it doesn’t stand for much, as for example the access to information laws in Nicaragua and Panama, and to a lesser extent in Honduras," said Marroquin.
A 2009 survey carried out by Transparency International showed that nearly two-thirds of those questioned in eight Latin American countries thought their government ineffective in fighting corruption.
VENEZUELAN HOTSPOT
According to Transparency International’s 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index, which measures perceived levels of public sector corruption in 180 nations (first place being least corrupt), Venezuela is the most corrupt country in Latin America (excluding the Caribbean), ranking 162nd.
The Andean nation stands out in the region for making little progress to curb graft in recent years. According to a recent report by the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, Venezuela failed to meet 97 out of 113 technical recommendations made by the OAS.
In drug trafficking focal points, like Mexico and Colombia, and Central American countries used by drug smugglers as trans-shipment points for cocaine destined for the United States, the drug trade provides a fertile breeding ground for corruption, arms smuggling and money laundering.
In Mexico, endemic police corruption linked to the drug trade has seen intermittent purges of the police force and the sacking of mayors and local officials. Earlier this year, Guatemala’s drug czar and police chief were arrested over alleged links to drug traffickers.
CORRUPTION AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL
Many Latin American countries are still struggling to shrug off the remnants of the military dictatorships of the 1970s and 1980s, which were infamous for propagating official corruption.
In Central America, notably Costa Rica and Panama, at least a dozen former presidents have faced corruption charges, including fraud and the embezzlement of state funds, during the last two decades.
From the recent “parapolitics” affair in Colombia, in which dozens of current and former lawmakers have been jailed or are under investigation for allegedly conspiring with paramilitary groups, to a bribes-for-votes scandal in Brazil that has tainted the government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, graft remains pervasive at the highest level.
"Citizens in the Americas need to be able to trust their governments and institutions such as the police and the judiciary," said Transparency International board member Delia Ferreira. "But only when these institutions rid themselves of corruption will people start believing in them."
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