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The Corruption Perception Index (CPI) published this Tuesday by Transparency International (TI) indicates that corruption has been entrenched in the countries of the American continent for a decade. IT warns of the particular deterioration in the Central American region, where authoritarianism has advanced. In the world, the fight against corruption has also been stagnant in the last decade.
The NGO Transparency International (TI) published this Tuesday the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for the 2021 financial year. In it, the agency concludes that corruption has been entrenched in the countries of the Americas for a decade and looks with special concern at Central America where authoritarianism has been seen advancing.
“The countries of America are totally stuck in the fight against corruption. Corrupt leaders target activists and consolidate their power, while press rights, freedom of expression and freedom of association are under attack,” said Delia Ferreira Rubio, president of Transparency International.
“Strong action is needed to reverse this trend, protect civil society and defend human rights and democracy,” he added. For her part, Luciana Torchiaro, TI’s regional adviser for Latin America, explained to the EFE news agency that this stagnation has not only “undermined democracy and human rights,” but has also deepened the rates of poverty and inequality.
Torchiaro acknowledges that in the region there are legislative elements to fight corruption, but there is a lack of commitment from governments to carry out “firm actions” that materialize said capacity. It also emphasizes the importance of the separation of powers in a region with a “very weak” system of checks and balances.
The report points out that governments such as those of Guatemala or Venezuela “have attacked civil society organizations and activists to silence dissent and maintain corrupt power schemes.” Others, like those of Brazil or El Salvador, have a strong anti-corruption discourse, but carry out regressive measures to combat it.
Concerns about the situation in Central America
The NGO is especially concerned about the situation in Central America. There, they point out, the fight against corruption “is at its lowest level at a time when authoritarianism takes over Nicaragua (20) and threatens El Salvador (34)”.
“In Nicaragua, the concentration of power in the highest spheres has allowed the government to violate human rights and flout the electoral system. In El Salvador, the government takes measures that undermine the independence of the judiciary and publicly attacks civil society organizations, activists, and independent journalists.
The CPI measures the perception of the level of corruption on a scale that goes from 100 (greatest transparency) to 0 (greatest level of corruption). On this scale, the countries of the American continent have an average of 43 points, with two thirds of the countries below 50.
At the top are Canada (74), Uruguay (73), Chile (67) and the United States (67), although Canada and Chile have seen a deterioration in this score. Torchiaro points out, however, that Chile has a “unique” opportunity with the new government to reverse this trend. On the opposite side are Haiti (20), Nicaragua (20) and Venezuela (14). These last two together with Canada are at historic lows.
Among the most stable countries in the region, TI points to Uruguay, whom the regional advisor for Latin America gives as an example. “What we have been able to confirm with the case of Uruguay is one of the great hypotheses of Transparency International: when strong and democratic institutions work, corruption is less,” he told EFE.
global stagnation
The bad general data of the countries of America are included in a world context in which, according to the NGO, the fight against corruption has practically stalled in the last decade. The report does not register progress in 90% of the countries, among which Denmark, New Zealand and Finland stand out as the most transparent countries.
The NGO’s concern lies especially in the countries with the worst percentages, given that a higher rate of corruption not only undermines democracy, but is also the basis for a greater capacity to commit human rights violations.
“Human rights are more than desirable in the fight against corruption. Authoritarian models destroy independent checks and balances and make taking action against corruption dependent on the whims of an elite,” said Delia Ferreira Rubio.
Not in vain, of the 331 murders of human rights defenders indicated by the NGO, 98% occurred in countries with a score of less than 45 points. Despite this, it is noted that consolidated democracies have also seen a general setback in anti-corruption measures and in defense of human rights.
With EFE and local media
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