The countries with the highest perception of corruption in Latin America

What place does Mexico occupy in global corruption?

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(CNN Spanish) --

Corruption is a complex social, political and economic phenomenon that particularly affects most countries in Latin America.

The latest Transparency International report, with figures from 2021 and evaluating the problem worldwide, reveals that the region remains stagnant and shows practically no progress in its fight against corruption.

The non-governmental organization establishes a ranking of 180 countries, in which 0 points correspond to those in which there is total perception of corruption and 100 to those where it is considered that it does not exist.

Venezuela is where this perception is the highest in Latin America with only 14 points and in position 177 on the entire list.

They are followed by Nicaragua and Haiti with a score of 20 and then Honduras, with 23 points.

At the other extreme, Uruguay is where corruption is least perceived in the region and with 73 points it ranks 18th internationally.

Then come Chile (67 points), Costa Rica (58) and Cuba (46).

They are the only four countries in Latin America that exceed the average score of 43 in all of America. 

The study is based on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), elaborated from the evaluations that several experts from the private sector carry out on the level of corruption in the public life of a country, especially in the economy, politics and administration.

Central America, marked by corruption

Transparency International is keeping an eye this year on Central America, where it is especially concerned about the growing authoritarianism in Nicaragua and El Salvador.

In Nicaragua, the concentration of power in the government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo has allowed human rights to be violated and elections to be ignored, the organization denounces.

In El Salvador, the government of President Nayib Bukele has increasingly restricted access to information, according to Transparency International, harassing its critics and has shown a "serious" lack of transparency in the spending of public funds.

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Bukele, who has not referred to this report, has chosen to respond to this type of remarks ironically.

Last September he put in his Twitter biography "Dictator of El Salvador" and "The coolest dictator in the world".

• Bukele rejects US list with Salvadoran politicians linked to corruption cases

Venezuela and Mexico, without progress

Regarding Venezuela, Transparency International highlights that it is not only the country with the highest perception of corruption in the region, but also that it has obtained the lowest score in its history.

With 14 points and in position 177 of the global IPC, it is also one of the countries in the world where the greatest corruption is perceived.

He also says that Mexico, with 31 points, has not made any progress this year despite the "strong" anti-corruption rhetoric of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and highlights the major corruption scandals involving government collaborators and the criticism that exists in the country on the political use of the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic.

Link between corruption and covid-19

According to Transparency International, the region faces a significant challenge in ensuring that funds and programs to combat covid-19 are not lost due to corruption.

“If this aid is not properly distributed, there is a risk that social unrest will increase, the flames of harmful populism will be fanned, and poverty and inequality will grow even more,” reads the report published last January.

An example of this happens in Venezuela, where the pandemic has pushed the health system to the limit.

Some doctors and nurses reported acts of corruption to Transparency International.

Such is the case of José, a doctor who was on the front line treating covid-19 patients in a hospital in Venezuela.

When trying to present his resignation due to the conditions in which he worked, José said that he was threatened by agents of the Special Action Forces (FAES), according to the document.

Transparency Venezuela testified before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) about the lack of personal protective equipment and other supplies, as well as the deterioration of the facilities.

According to the United Doctors of Venezuela organization, more than 800 health workers have died since June 2020 due to the pandemic.

The figure represents more than 15% of the total deaths from covid-19 reported by the authorities in Venezuela, which exceed 5,200.

CNN contacted the Venezuelan Ministry of Health to find out its response to the allegations made by Transparencia Venezuela and is still awaiting a response from the state body.

In Honduras, the impact of the arrival of covid-19 was also marked by allegations of corruption, where there were officials who took advantage of the health crisis.

According to Transparency International, the state agency responsible for emergency purchases did not act transparently. An investigation by the Association for a More Just Society (ASJ) revealed that the government overpaid for 7 mobile hospitals that have not yet been delivered. “These failures created the largest covid-19 tragedy in the country,” said Carlos Hernández, executive director of ASJ, according to the non-governmental organization.

After the complaints, the Honduran authorities opened an investigation to investigate the purchase made by the government for almost US$48 million from the company Elmed Medical Systems, Inc, which operated as HospitalesMoviles.com.

Last April, the former executive director and the former administrator of the government purchasing office, Marco Bográn and Alex Moraes, respectively, were preventively detained accused of the crimes of fraud and violation of the duties of officials, the Honduran Public Ministry informed through a statement.

Investment in healthcare

According to the Transparency International study, countries with a good performance in the ranking invest more in health and are more capable of offering universal health coverage to their population.

In addition, it points out that "they are less likely to violate democratic norms or the rule of law in their response to the crisis."

Such is the case of Chile, one of the countries with the lowest rate of perception of corruption in Latin America, which implemented a calendar that it followed to the letter and placed it at the head of vaccination within the region.

International Transparency