Costa Rica gets good rating on corruption levels according to Transparency International
According to Transparency International 2009 Survey, among 180 countries, Chile and Uruguay share the 25th position and may be considered somewhat like referring to the Latin American region, with a Index of Perception of Corruption (CPI) of 6.7 points. Costa Rica trails third (43 with a CPI of 5.3) and Cuba fourth (61 and CPI of 4.4). Behind them are Brazil, Colombia and Peru all in the position 75.
Mexico, meanwhile, stood at the post 89, passed by El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama, who occupy the position 84.
According to Transparency International 2009 Survey “indicate that corruption is seriously extended” in Latin America.
Venezuela is ranked 162 on 180 countries included in the study with an Index of Perception of Corruption (CPI) of 1.9%, just one place ahead of Haiti, with a CPI of 1.8 is in place 168 and is the worst in America.
Other countries with low scores are Bolivia (120th), Nicaragua (130), Honduras (130), Ecuador (146) and Paraguay (154).
These countries have “high levels of poverty and urgently require strong and transparent institutions that can facilitate economic development more than necessary,” according to Transparency International.
For its part, Argentina is ranked 106, a position which shows that “high levels of perceived corruption are not associated exclusively with poverty, a case similar to Venezuela, the organization warns.
The regional report by Transparency International also mentions the problems of press freedom in the region and its impact in the fight against corruption.
“Journalists in Latin America face an increasingly restrictive environment, and several countries have enacted or proposed laws to silence critical journalism, which threatens press freedom in general and the fundamental possibility of exposing corruption and its impact, “says the text.
The report also stressed that corruption is a major obstacle to economic recovery being recorded in almost all nations and is especially dangerous in the weaker countries, those located in regions of conflict throughout the globe.
To carry out its annual index, TI is based on surveys of experts, officials and heads of companies and administrations of each country
Source: La Nacion, Transparency International 2009 Corruption Index
Thanks for sharing this site. Another site that is useful in comparing countries in this vein is the WTO’s Worldwide Governance charts. Again Costa Rica shows well.
You can see this site at: http://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/sc_country.asp
Greetings,
This is a very interesting subject, I live in Nicoya, Guanacaste. And I find this article a bit unrealistic, there’s corruption at every level of government. You need to, you have to pay to play, is that simple.
There’s no legal system for the victims, it only exist for the criminal. The O.I.J., is so under manned and under funded, from Santa Cruz to Punta Arenas an area with a radius of about 200+ km., has just 2 officers to combat drug traffic.
You need only to ask any Costa Rican, what’s they’re opinion about the integrity of public officials and most will answer “son unos chorizeros”. Costa Rica has a good P.R. campaign and nothing more, the constituency is what saves us.
Most people are poor here, it’s a communist/democracy. The taxes that one has to pay and the services the government claims it provides is nothing short of a joke, anything and everything is red tape and under the table deals, with no justice for the victims. If you have the money to pay all the bribes that are require, then welcome to Costa Rica.
One simple example of just how corrupted the system has gotten, is CUSTOMS: where you can work for a few years and become rich almost over night, so please forgive my concerns about such a prestigious ranking, when we all had to pay the Fuerza Publica, Transito, Aduanas, Migracion etc.
Armando Escobar