Corruption is the biggest obstacle facing Latin American democracies, surpassing other problems including the lack of social justice and transparency in government, according to a poll
BOGOTA (TrustLaw) - Corruption is the biggest obstacle facing Latin American democracies, surpassing other problems including the lack of social justice and transparency in government, according to the latest poll by Latinobarometro.
The pollster Latinobarometro, a Chilean non-governmental organisation, has carried out surveys on political and social attitudes in Latin America each year since the mid-1990s.
The poll, conducted in 18 Latin American countries which surveyed up to 1,200 people in each country, asked citizens what they felt was most lacking in their democracy.
Sixty-three percent of Colombians surveyed believed the government needed to reduce corruption to strengthen its democracy, followed by 61 percent of Argentines, and 59 percent of Peruvians.
Bribing public officials to get things done remains an accepted practice, with forty percent of people surveyed in the Dominican Republic and Panama said resorting to bribery was acceptable.
Latin Americans have little confidence in political parties and state institutions.
Only a quarter of respondents said they trusted their country’s political parties, and around a third expressed faith in Congress, civil servants and the courts.
Support for democracy fell slightly among Latin Americans, with 58 percent of those surveyed said they preferred a democratically elected government to an authoritarian government, down three points in comparison with the last year’s poll.
The most respected institution in Latin America is the Catholic Church, with 64 percent of respondents saying they trusted the Church.
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