The Capacity to Combat Corruption (CCC) Index - 2021: Assessing Latin America’s ability to detect, punish and prevent corruption!

Très intéressant rapport sur les pays d'Amérique Latine et la lutte contre la corruption!

Very interesting report on LatAm countries and fight against corruption!

The Capacity to Combat?Corruption?(CCC)?Index - 2021: Assessing Latin America’s ability?to detect,?punish and prevent corruption

https://www.controlrisks.com/-/media/corporate/files/campaigns/ccc/ccc_2021_report_english.pdf?

AMONG KEY FINDINGS:

The fight against corruption in Latin America suffered a new wave of setbacks over the past year. In several countries, the COVID-19 pandemic led governments and citizens to shift their focus to other urgent priorities, giving politicians space to diminish the autonomy and resources of judicial bodies without triggering popular outrage or street demonstrations as witnessed in years past. The widely documented erosion of democratic institutions in a number of countries continued, and there was a concerning decline in the efficiency and independence of anti-corruption agencies in almost all countries. The perceived errors and abuses committed by a number of high-profile prosecutors and judges in recent years also contributed to a decline in popular support for the anti-corruption movement that emerged in much of Latin America in the mid-2010s.

The tragedy of all this is clear: Efforts to combat corruption are more needed in 2021 than ever before. Latin America has been among the regions hardest hit by the pandemic, both economically and in terms of number of deaths. With governments under increasing financial strain, and healthcare systems in many countries severely impaired, the pernicious effects of graft on society are amplified. As governments engage in massive emergency spending to help the most vulnerable, reduced oversight has contributed to opacity in public procurement and overspending on protective equipment, ventilators and other medical supplies. Reports of counterfeit masks and vaccines have further undermined public confidence and delayed a return to normalcy. Meanwhile, increasing doubts about the application of rule of law and about the quality of judicial institutions have undermined business confidence at a time when both foreign and domestic investment in Latin America are at multi-year lows.

There were, however, notable exceptions to these challenging trends, especially in countries such as Uruguay, Chile and Costa Rica, where the overall quality of democracy and strength of political institutions remain high. Anti-corruption bills are slowly progressing through legislatures in Chile and Colombia. In the Dominican Republic, investigations were conducted into former government officials accused of corruption. Panama and Ecuador saw considerable improvements in the independence of their chief prosecutors and in their capacity to tackle white collar crime. Across the region, a number of countries improved anti-money laundering mechanisms and implemented more transparent procurement tools.

AMONG KEY FINDINGS:

? Uruguay finished with the Index’s highest score for the second consecutive year.

? Five of the 15 countries measured saw significant declines in their scores, reflecting the deteriorating overall context detailed above. Seven countries saw their scores remain mostly unchanged. Three countries saw significant improvements.

? Latin America’s two largest countries and economies, Brazil and Mexico, experienced some of the sharpest declines.

? The Dominican Republic saw by far the greatest advance in its score.

The CCC Index’s goal is not to shame or single out countries, but to foster a policy-driven discussion, helping governments, civil society and the private sector identify—through data and a robust methodology—areas of success and deficiencies to be addressed.