MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Venezuela, Paraguay and Haiti the “most corrupt”

Several Latinamerican countries, mainly Venezuela, Paraguay and Haiti, figure among the group of countries perceived to be the most corrupt in the world, according to a Corruption Perceptions Index, (CPI) report by the Berlin based Transparency International released Tuesday.

The Transparency International report which includes 159 countries underlines that "corruption isn't a natural disaster: it is the cold, calculated theft of opportunity from the men, women and children who are least able to protect themselves".

David Nussbaum, TI's Chief Executive added that "leaders must go beyond lip service and make good on their promises to provide the commitment and resources to improve governance, transparency and accountability".

More than two-thirds of the 159 nations surveyed in Transparency International's 2005 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) scored less than 5 out of a clean score of 10, indicating serious levels of corruption in a majority of the countries surveyed.

According to the report Venezuela ranks 130 (2,3); Paraguay 144 (2,1) and Haiti 155 (1,8).

In Latinamerica the country best placed is Chile, 21 (7,3) followed by Uruguay, 38 (5,9) and Costa Rica 51 (4,2). Other outstanding members of the region have the following ranking: Cuba 59 (3,4); Brazil 62 (3,7); Peru 65 (3,5) and Argentina 97 (2,8). United States stands 17 (7,6) and United Kingdom 11 (8,6).

The Western Hemisphere country rated least corrupt was Canada which figures 14, (8,4), although there has been a slight retraction from last year.

Among the leading countries in the world, China figures 78; Japan 21; South Korea and Italy 40, while New Zealand and Australia outstand among those perceived as less corrupt in positions 2 and 9.

Chad, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Turkmenistan and Haiti (all below 2) figure among the most corrupt in the world, and at the other extreme Iceland 9,7; Finland 9,6; New Zealand 9,6 and Denmark 9,5 out of 10 points.

The TI Corruption Perceptions Index, CPI, is a composite survey, reflecting the perceptions of business people and country analysts, both resident and non-resident. It draws on 16 different polls from 10 independent institutions. For a country to be included, it must feature in at least 3 polls. As a result, a number of countries ? including some which could be among the most corrupt ? are missing because not enough survey data is available.

TI is advised in relation to the CPI by a group of international specialists. The statistical work on the index was coordinated by Professor Graf Lambsdorff.

Finally TI urges the following actions: By lower-income countries: Increase resources and political will for anti-corruption efforts. Enable greater public access to information about budgets, revenue and expenditure.

By higher-income countries: combine increased aid with support for recipient-led reforms. Reduce tied aid, which limits local opportunities and ownership of aid programmes.

By all countries: promote strong coordination among governments, the private sector and civil society to increase efficiency and sustainability in anti-corruption and good governance efforts. Ratify, implement and monitor existing anti-corruption conventions in all countries to establish international norms. These include, the UN Convention against Corruption, the OECD Anti-bribery Convention, and the regional conventions of the African Union and the Organization of American States