Venezuela and Nicaragua are seen as the most corrupt countries in the region

Uruguay and Chile are perceived as the least corrupt Latin American countries, while they are poles apart. Venezuela and Nicaragua, said Tuesday in a report International transparency (IT), which says "worried"by involution in the region.

The Corruption Perception Index attributes 70 points to Uruguay (23rd place) and 67 to Chile (27th place) out of a maximum of 100. It attributes respectively 18 and 25 points to Venezuela (168) and Nicaragua (152). ). Denmark and New Zealand, with 88 and 87 complete, top the list, followed by Somalia and Syria with 10 and 13.

Other countries in the region: Costa Rica (56), Cuba (47), Argentina (40), Panama (37), Colombia (36), Brazil, El Salvador and Peru (35), Ecuador (34), Dominican Republic . (30), Bolivia, Honduras and Paraguay (29), Mexico (28) and Guatemala (27).

The situation of the fight against corruption in Latin America is "worrisome", warned in an interview with EFE the president of computer science, Argentina Delia Ferreirawho denounced the existence of one "clear trend"a"restrict the space of civil society"in a region where authoritarian and populist leaders proliferate.

Regional photography begins with the "major problem" What is Venezuela?, a country in one "humanitarian crisis caused by corruption"and where all institutions have been infiltrated by the state," said Ferreira.

The document also includes the clouds over Nicaragua, Mexico and Guatemala, and the risk that regional referents such as the United States and Brazil entail presidents such as Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro, as well as the flashes of optimism from Ecuador, El Salvador and Argentina.

In Nicaragua, "the regime has fully co-opted" the institutions, in Guatemala the government has transformed the organs that act as an "arbitrator"lap puppies"who only attack opponents, and in Mexico, corruption is unleashed by the infiltration of organized crime into political life.

Brazil, convalescence still cases "Wash jato"and Odebrecht, is in a situation "very disturbing"for the arrival of Bolsonaro, whose first steps were to increase controls on non-governmental organizations and weaken the law on access to public information" Ferreira continued.

The way politics is done in the region is changing, adding to a global trend in which populist and authoritarian leaders undermine democratic practices to weaken the system "from the inside," says TI's report. .

Argentina is one of the countries that improves compared to the previous edition -of his law of access to public information, even if the implementation is deficient, as Ecuador and The Savior, where judicial investigations were opened for bribery of former senior officials, including former presidents.

TI points out in the study "link between corruption and democratic health"and corroborates this with data: the average score of those considered as" complete democracies "is 75 points, for the 49 of the" imperfect democracies ", the 35 of the" hybrid regimes "and the 30 who get on average the system" autocratic ".

In the general clbadification, after Denmark and New Zealand, Finland, Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland stand out with 85 points, followed by Norway (84), the Netherlands (82), Canada and Luxembourg. (81), from Germany and the United Kingdom (80).

The wagon, along with Somalia and Syria, includes countries at war, failed states and totalitarian regimes: South Sudan, with 13 points, Yemen and North Korea (14), Sudan, Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea and Afghanistan. (16)

The report also highlights the sharp decline in the United States, which lost four points from the previous report to 71 (and falling to 22), a notable drop in a highly stable ranking that led to the 39; computer. call the world's largest economy "country under observation".

Spain maintains the 58 points of the previous report and the position 41, although it is well below the European average (66), China is ranked 87, with 39 points, and Russia is relegated to 138, with 28 .

(By Juan Palop – EFE)