World Bank: In Latin America, Civil Society Mobilizes Against Corruption

In Latin America, Civil Society Mobilizes Against Corruption. Transparency International estimates that bribes represent 10 percent of the value of public contracts in Latin America, reports Le Figaro (France). In central America, from Guatemala to Panama, the population is increasingly expressing its exasperation with the endemic phenomenon of corruption.

Salvador is currently rocked by the Anda affair, the French daily explains. The director of Anda, the national company in charge of the distribution of water, was arrested on charges of embezzlement of $6.1 million. Alfonso Portillo, ex-president of Guatemala, is under investigation for the creation of fourteen bank accounts in Panama and the embezzlement of $50 million in public funds. And Arnoldo Aleman, Nicaragua’s president between 1997 and 2002, was condemned to 20 years in prison for having organized a financial bridge between fifteen ministries and Panama, through which transited $97.2 million.

Meanwhile, the World Bank notes that corruption can cut a country’s GDP growth by 0.5 to 1 point. According to Transparency International’s annual Global Corruption Report, Honduras scored the lowest in 2003 with a score of 2.3 (out of 10, meaning complete transparency). Guatemala scored 2.4, Nicaragua 2.6, Panama 3.4, lower than Mexico’s 3.6 and Brazil’s 3.9 scores. Jaime Lopez, director of the association “Probidad,” based in Salvador, explains the paradox : “When a Brazilian politician embezzles $50 million, he doesn’t affect the economic stability of his country. In Central America, the impact is much stronger - $50 million is the budget of a ministry. A scandal like that of Anda in Salvador, compromised the production of drinkable water for a fourth of the country’s population.” The daily explains that an additional problem is that given the small size of the Central American states, corruption networks tend to melt into each other, as the Aleman affair demonstrates. This internationalization invalidates national audits.

Meanwhile, in a related piece, Le Figaro writes that in Mexico, corruption is costing more than national education. The World Bank estimates that corruption is engulfing 9 percent of Mexico’s GDP, compared to the 6.8 percent dedicated to national education. But Eduardo Romero-Ramos, director of the government’s anti-corruption program, explains that the situation has been getting better since 1997. He cites examples of an initiative the government is taking to curb corruption: by giving greater access to new technologies to the population, the government hopes to reduce the number of encounters between individuals and officials, and hence the temptation of bribery.

Furthermore, thanks to the adoption of a law on transparency one year ago, any citizen can access the government’s internet portal and request justifications of the government’s expenditures. This operation was funded by loans from the World Bank, amongst other lending bodies.

As for the financing of political parties, legislation is gradually limiting candidates’ access to private funds. Romero-Ramos points out that Federal Electoral Commission condemned Mexican President Vicente Fox’s party to very high fines for the irregularities in the financing of his campaign.