Daniel Santoro
01/28/2021 2:01 AM
Clarín.com
Politics
Updated 01/28/2021 2:01 AM
Argentina
fell
three points
last year
in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of the NGO Transparency International.
In addition, it
fell 12 places,
remaining in position 78 out of 179 countries, the latter being the most corrupt.
The setback occurred during the first year of the administration of President Alberto Fernández.
v 1.5
Corruption perception index
In points.
Tap to explore the data
Source:
TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL
Infographic:
Clarín
In this international survey, Argentina 2020 scored
42 points out of 100
, being 100 for the most transparent countries, Transparency International reported.
In 2019, the last year of Mauricio Macri's government, he had obtained 45 points out of 100 within the framework of a growing trend.
Regarding the ranking of positions, Argentina was ranked
78 out of 179 countries
in 2020
, the latter being the most corrupt.
In 2019, Argentina was better,
in position 66
, closer to the first positions that are the most transparent countries.
During the four years of the Macri government, Argentina had improved its position from 32 - which was left in the last year of Cristina Kirchner's administration - to 45 points out of 100.
This index is taken into account
by private investments and the World Bank and the IMF
when recommending lending or investing money in Argentina.
The Corruption Perception Index
is a work of the prestigious NGO Transparency International, based in Berlin
and chaired by Delia Ferreira Rubio, from Argentina.
Poder Ciudadano
is the Argentine Chapter of Transparency International and the one in charge of presenting the results in Argentina.
The executive director of Citizen Power, Pablo Secchi, recalled that "it is an index
of perception
of corruption."
Corruption is clandestine and therefore cannot be measured.
"It does not indicate that one country is more corrupt than another, but rather that specialists in the matter, investors, and specific actors, give
their opinion
on the state of corruption in the countries," Secchi added.
Regarding Argentina's result, Secchi said that "although
a small setback is seen
in this measurement, in recent years there has been an important advance in the ranking."
The 2020 challenge for Argentina "was to be as transparent as possible
in terms of purchases and hiring to alleviate the pandemic
."
"Unfortunately
, this objective has not been achieved
, and we have observed that the pandemic was used to
skip
important control steps including in purchases and contracting that were not related to the pandemic," he added.
Last April, the Minister of Social Development, Daniel Arroyo, fired 14 officials for a purchase of 534 million noodles and rice
with surcharges
and a legal case was opened against the prosecutor Sergio Rodríguez.
Secchi stressed that “our maxim is that emergency purchases
require
emergency
control mechanisms
.
Unfortunately this is not happening ”.
Until last October, the Government made
85 percent of the contracts directly,
without bidding, and more than half concentrated in
just eight companies
.
The executive director of Citizen Power said that "the 2021 objective will continue to be related to the pandemic, but
also focusing on the purchase and distribution of vaccines
."
It depends on the measures that the government takes in the future, it will depend on
whether this setback is temporary or a downward trend.
The member of the General Auditor's Office, Jesús Rodríguez, also
asked to audit the emergency purchases.
Another issue that had an influence, Secchi noted, "in the perception of Argentina is related to
the attempts to generate changes in both the justice and the Public Prosecutor's Office
."
He alluded to the government's Judicial Reform project and the attempts of Vice President Cristina Kirchner to
displace the acting attorney general, Eduardo Casal, among other measures against Justice
.
"These movements are not usually seen as positive among those consulted in this type of work,
generating uncertainty about the independence of the judiciary and the rules of the game,
" Secchi concluded.
The published report reveals that worldwide corruption "is
undermining
health systems and contributing to democratic decline in the midst of the COVID19 pandemic."
What other factors did these international businessmen, officials or academics take into account to give their opinion?
As Secchi said, the Government
annulled by decree
the obligation to make public tenders to buy medicines and other supplies against the coronavirus and allowed direct purchases.
In addition, the Anti-Corruption Office headed by the member of “Legitimate Justice” Félix Cros
withdrew
as a plaintiff in a corruption case K.
The experts consider that also
the greater interventionism of the State
in the economy, which implies more regulations and more "tolls" to pay officials.
The Vicentín case, surely, also worsened the international image of the Frente de Todos government.
At the judicial level, the Court ratified convictions such as that of former Vice President Amado Boudou.
But last year the investigating judges, in general,
slowed down the progress of the cases due to the pandemic or fear of pressure from the K.
While Kirchnerism requested pardons or amnesties for Boudou and others convicted or prosecuted in corruption cases.
In 2015, the last year of the administration of former President Cristina Kirchner, Argentina made
a delay
in this index.
Argentina was ranked
107 out of 168
in that ranking, where the last places correspond to the countries with the most corruption in the public sector.
It
scored only 32 points out
of a possible 100 (those closest to 100 are the countries perceived as more transparent) in this survey.
The surveys and reports used to prepare the 2020 report were conducted with members of the Bertelsmann Foundation Transformation Index, Economist Intelligence Unit Country Ratings, Global Insight Country Risk Ratings, and IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook.
Members of the PRS International Country Risk Guide, Varieties of Democracy Project, World Economic Forum EOS and World Justice Project Rule of Law Index were also consulted.