Transparency in purchases made by the State is the main barrier to combating corruption of public officials and the only way to ensure fair competition between suppliers.
In all Central American countries resistance to single platforms for government procurement is headed by public officials who thrive on the old systems of administration which kept processes and decisions regarding expenditure in the dark.
The Guatemalan government has extended until December the term of three contracts for the supply of medical supplies.
The first contract was extended by the Ministry of Finance and aims to acquire "products for oral and parenteral nutrition, contrast media, liquids and electrolytes, antiseptics, master formulas, vitamins and other products", reported PrensaLibre.com.
Despite a direct order from the president, Costa Rican ministerial bureaucracy is still blocking a system which looks to eliminate corruption in public procurements.
The Ministry of Finance has not yet signed the decree establishing the mandatory use of Mer-Link in procurement processes, which could delay its implementation in January 2014.
Nacion.com reports: "Although the first version of the decree was received by the Ministry of Finance on 6 June, it has yet to be signed, a fact which will delay implementation of the system, according to the director of the Digital Government, Alicia Avendaño".