Inter-American convention against corruption analyzes six countries

Thursday, January 3rd 2013 - 00:03 UTC

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The Organization of American States (OAS) has begun the process of analyzing a new group of countries - Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Panama, Uruguay, and Venezuela - as part of the Fourth Round of the Mechanism for Follow-Up on the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (MESICIC) of the OAS. Read full article

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Shed-time
This is a bit like letting the inmates run the nut-house. They'll come back with a bunch of results about how none of them are corrupt with an end-note about Argentina wanting the Falklands. They just seem incapable of not repeating the same sh!t over and over again.
Jan 03rd, 2013 - 09:11 am - Link - Report abuse 0
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Condorito
Shed,
I don’t think that will be the case.
I think the results will show (as per Transparency International’s) that Chile has the lowest corruption on the continent (similar level to the UK) whereas most of the other countries are struggling with high levels of corruption – on a par with many African nations.

A little anecdote on the subject:
I just drove over the Andes to Cordoba. The public acceptance of corruption over there is staggering. The police are totally corrupt. I was stopped twice on the way out and once on the way back by the police. It would be funny if not so unnerving to those of us who are uncomfortable with it. They pull you over and then give you some chat about how they are having a “collection” for repairing the roof of some school or other. The first time I gave them 10 pesos. At the next opportunity I asked some locals what the going rate for police “collections” was now, 5 pesos they all told me was enough. The next two stops only 5 pesos were contributed to oiling the wheels of justice.

In San Juan, I went in to a local supermarket, where a policeman seemed to be doing the job of a supermarket security guard. I was curious so I asked him what was going on. It turns out that he was off duty and was making some extra cash as a security guard – in police uniform, with badge and service revolver! I was amazed that the locals didn’t think this was completely wrong. In Chile he would have been dismissed immediately and possibly jailed along with the supermarket owner.

Seeing these things goes some way to understanding why Argies have an almost ingrained mistrust of institutions. The problem is that they project the corrupt nature of their institutions on to all.
Jan 03rd, 2013 - 01:14 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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Shed-time
@2 So from a socio-cultural viewpoint, what went so so very wrong with Argentina and what went so right with Chile?

Thank goodness you have a natural hilly border between you and them. Just like we have a lot of water between us and those spanish.

(I'm still saying the results will say Argentina is some non-corrupt utopia as I'm used to the utter nonsense these things serve up)
Jan 03rd, 2013 - 03:35 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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Condorito
3
I don’t know. The high percentage of Italian stock doesn’t auger well for a corruption free society, but I think the answer is more likely to lie in recent events. We came out of the dictatorship with strong institutions, they came out of the dictatorship a wreck.
Jan 03rd, 2013 - 04:21 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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