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Andean Summit on Corruption Prepares Items for Consideration at Quebec City The meeting was organized by the Trust for the Americas to follow up on the resolutions of the Second Summit of the Americas (held in Santiago, Chile in 1998), which identified civil society and the fight against corruption as hemispheric priorities. Since then, numerous forums, congresses and meetings have addressed the topic of corruption. What makes the Cartagena summit unique is that its findings will be presented at the Third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City, Canada in April 2001. With that end
in mind, the Cartagena participants focused on concrete initiatives such
as the creation of Transparency Action Groups, charged with identifying
areas and situations prone to corruption; an Anti-Corruption Fair to
provide a forum for innovative proposals for battling corruption; and
seminars for investigative journalists. According to an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) report presented at the meeting, Latin America is among the regions of the world with the least control over corruption. Only Africa ranks below it in terms of application of the law. Robert Klitgaard, a presenter at the summit, argued that "the proliferation of laws and regulations in the Andean countries, as well as the process of administrative decentralization, are among the factors favoring corruption." As an example he cited Peru, where nearly half a million laws and regulations are on the books. "If you keep in mind that close to 20% of these norms allow public functionaries to act with complete discretion, you will understand that ample opportunities exist for corruption," Klitgaard said. The problem with decentralization, he added, is that money now reaches small towns and cities, "where officials are poorly trained, there is no concept of the notion of transparency or accountability, and local political groups exert strong pressure in favor of their clients," he added. The Role of the Media In their discussions of how best to address such problems, the participants mentioned the media and the importance of their role in the fight against corruption. A panel discussion on the topic included journalists from Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Panama and Colombia. Juan Lozano, director of the Colombia's Citytv and a columnist for El Tiempo newspaper, as well as a member of the Colombian chapter of Transparency International, stressed that the media have certain duties and obligations. Among these, he cited the defense of freedom of expression, a right that is protected under the law but which is continually threatened by new attempts at censorship. These assaults include pressure from advertisers, the granting of government broadcast licenses, "gifts" and bribes. Other participants pointed to manipulation by media owners and the effect of political and economic crises on news coverage as the biggest threats to freedom of the press. They called for autonomy and the support of media directors and owners to unmask corruption. The true antidote to corruption, Lozano suggested, is the establishment of an organized civil society movement to protest misleading reporting, public relations disguised as news coverage, and improper alliances between the media and political and economic interest groups. As Peruvian journalist Ricardo Uceda pointed out, however, "the media can help, but that's not enough." Many of his colleagues agreed that the way to fight corruption is to inform the public about the legal means to combat it and create coalitions between civil society groups and the government with collective oversight capabilities. Results and Accomplishments Despite the persistence of corruption as a hemisphere-wide problem, some promising advances can be reported. One example is the so-called "integrity pacts" promoted by Transparency International's Colombian chapter. These agreements pledge public and private entities to follow the strictest ethical practices. As a result, Colombia has been able to certify the transparency of approximately 50 public bids with an estimated worth of more than $2 billion. Around 150 national and international companies have agreed to abide by the pacts. Another interesting experience from the private sector perspective is the "Zero Tolerance" program introduced by Sergio Mejía, former president of the Colombian insurance company COLSEGUROS. Under the program, all of the company's workers pledged not to tolerate corruption. According to Mejía, in three years tolerance for irregularities in the workplace dropped considerably. Several regional anti-corruption initiatives were also announced at the Cartagena summit. Jorge García, the OAS's secretary for juridical and legal cooperation, hailed the creation of a unique legal model for accessing information in Latin America and protecting those who denounce instances of corruption. The Trust for the Americas also discussed its training program for journalists who investigate cases of corruption. Two regional training seminars have been held already, in La Paz, Bolivia and San José, Costa Rica. (More information about this program is available at www.cipe.org/pfc). Some critics complained that the Cartagena summit failed to devote adequate discussion to such issues as the bribing of public officials and favoritism in the awarding of contracts, but overall the talks provided a useful evaluation of challenges and progress in the fight against corruption in the Andes. The test will be whether the initiatives and proposals introduced will receive the support of the Summit of the Americas actors. For more information about the Cartagena summit, see www.trustfortheamericas.com
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