HomeNewsBriefLatin America's Corruption Landscape Unchanged, Despite Political Pledges
BRIEF

Latin America's Corruption Landscape Unchanged, Despite Political Pledges

INFOGRAPHICS / 3 DEC 2013 BY CHARLES PARKINSON EN

Latin America's most corrupt countries have shown little progress in global rankings in 2013, despite claims by some of the worst performers that they are tackling the problem.

The Corruption Perceptions Index 2013, released on December 3 by the NGO Transparency International, saw Haiti become the worst performer in Latin America and the Caribbean, despite receiving the same corruption score and slightly improving its placement in the world rankings compared to last year -- to 163rd out of 177 countries.

Venezuela, Paraguay and Honduras remained the three worst-ranking mainland Latin American countries. Venezuela rose five places to 160th, but with a barely significant improvement on its 2012 score, while Paraguay remained in 150th place with a slightly worse score compared to 2012. Honduras dropped seven places to 140th.

At the other end of the spectrum, Uruguay (19th) edged ahead of Chile (22nd) as the region's least corrupt country, while Costa Rica (49th) and Brazil (72nd) remained in third and fourth place, respectively, for mainland Latin America.

InSight Crime Analysis

All three of mainland Latin America's worst performers have seen new presidents elected over the past year. Though President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela and President Horacio Cartes in Paraguay have pledged to tackle the problem of corruption, their promises have thus far led to little in the way of results. Meanwhile, Honduras' new president-elect, Juan Orlando Hernandez, has faced opposition claims his recent election victory itself was fraudulent.

SEE ALSO: Honduras News and Profiles

One shortfall of these statistics is that they can fail to reflect individual cases. Despite Uruguay's and Chile's statuses as the least corrupt countries in Latin America, recent arrests in Chile showed that even one of the region's most trusted nations is not immune to criminal activity at the highest levels of its police force.

A survey published by Transparency International earlier this year found that people in Latin America most commonly pinpointed political parties, police or the government and legislature as the most corrupt entities in their countries. Honduras' police force is particularly notorious for its corrupt nature, with one official claiming in 2011 that up to 40 percent of the force had organized crime ties.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME / 2 JUN 2022

Peru – rich in biodiversity – is a hotspot for the wildlife trade. Reptiles, fish and birds are all trafficked…

ECUADOR / 24 DEC 2021

Ecuador's descent into violence followed a common path: more cocaine led to more cash and more weapons for the gangs.

ARGENTINA / 1 FEB 2022

In 2021, most countries in Latin America and the Caribbean experienced a marked increase in murders. Resurgent violence was to…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…