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(Expansion) - The Global Corruption Barometer 2019 revealed that only 44% of Mexicans perceive more corruption and one in three acknowledged paying a bribe.
Four out of 10 Mexicans believe that corruption increased in the country. This is revealed by the Global Corruption Barometer 2019, prepared by the Transparency International organization, which states that 44% think this compared to 53% of Latin Americans.
However, regarding the opinion that Mexicans have about the government's performance, 61% of the respondents indicated that the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador is acting “well” or “very well” in contrast to 24% of Respondents in 2017, who considered that the government of Enrique Peña Nieto acted "well" or "very well" against corruption.
The difference between the evaluation of Enrique Peña Nieto and that of Andrés Manuel López Obrador is 37 percentage points.
- What can be done to reduce corruption in Latin America?
What is the Global Corruption Barometer?
The Global Corruption Barometer in Latin America and the Caribbean, published by Transparency International, presents the largest and most detailed set of public opinion data on corruption, as well as the direct experience of citizens with bribery in this region.
Between January and March 2019, more than 17,000 citizens living in 18 countries in the region were surveyed for this measurement. In the case of Mexico, the gathering of information was carried out by Ipsos between February 26 and March 9, 2019.
For the study, 1,000 people were interviewed face to face who were asked: “In your opinion, during the last year, the level of corruption in Mexico increased a lot / increased somewhat / remained the same / decreased a lot / decreased somewhat? "
What do Mexicans think about corruption?
In the case of Mexico, 44% considered that corruption increased in the last 12 months. In comparison, in Venezuela, 87% of citizens think that corruption increased.
The Mexican percentage is lower than that expressed in 2017, when 61% of respondents reported an increase in corruption during the year prior to the application of the survey.
However, one in three Mexicans acknowledged that they had to pay a bribe to access a procedure or public service in 2018, while in the past survey half of the respondents (51%) reported having incurred this practice.
Public services in which a higher percentage of Mexicans report paying a bribe are related to: the police (52%), access to justice (35%) and the provision of basic public services (30%).
With these results, Mexico is among the countries with the highest percentage of people who admit to having paid bribes, with 34% of respondents, only above Venezuela where 50% report having done so.
34% reported having experienced sexual extortion or know someone who went through this situation, while 50% said they were offered bribes in exchange for votes.
- The map of presidents accused of corruption in Latin America
How is Latin America in corruption?
According to the report released on Monday, 53% of the Latin Americans surveyed considered that corruption increased in the last year, in contrast to 16% who think it decreased.
More than one in five citizens who accessed public services, such as medical care and education, paid bribes in 2018. In addition, one in four citizens received bribes in exchange for votes in the past five years.
Most citizens argue that their governments do not do enough to address this problem and that levels have increased in the last 12 months throughout the region.
The Barometer increases hopes of a positive change. 77% of citizens say they can help stop this phenomenon.
Corruption and gender
This is the first time that the Barometer has data on sexual extortion or sextorsion. The information reveals that one in five citizens experienced it or know someone who went through this situation, that is, they were forced to perform sexual favors in exchange for obtaining public services, such as those related to health and education.
In this case, women are more likely to pay such bribes, one of the most significant forms of gender-based corruption.
“As the main breadwinner of their families, women generally depend on public services, which also makes them more vulnerable to certain types of bribery,” the study notes.
- Who are the most affected by corruption in Latin America?
What are the recommendations?
Promote greater political integrity, especially during election time: Ensure a transparent electoral environment, impose sanctions when the purchase of votes is detected and comply with and reform the financing rules of the electoral campaigns.
Improve the transparency of political financing: Establish norms, ensure the dissemination of the income, expenses, assets and loans of political parties or candidates and that all information is published in a single online portal, in an open data format.
Reduce the factors that encourage bribery, especially in public services: Make public services more efficient, invest in easy-to-use digital platforms to access services and simplify bureaucratic processes.
Strengthen judicial institutions: Promote non-political and independent processes of judicial appointments, improve the well-being of judicial personnel, judges and law enforcement officials and create transparent criteria for the allocation of cases.
Empower people, civil society and the media to report cases of corruption: Involve civil society and create a safe and conducive environment for civil society organizations and the media to monitor and report cases of corruption
Recognize and address specific forms of gender-based corruption: Recognize sexual extortion as a form of corruption and apply measures to end the culture of shaming and blaming victims, coupled with the fact that judicial systems should have adequate tools to address situations of sexual extortion and create safe, responsible, accessible and, above all, reporting mechanisms that take into account gender issues.
Adopt the Lima commitment: Governments must adopt and publicly report on the progress made regarding the Lima Commitment signed at the VIII Summit of the Americas, which describes 57 measures to strengthen democratic governance in the fight against corruption.
Global barometer Corruption