In 2019, the perception of corruption in public institutions increased in all countries of the region except Costa Rica, where it remained the same as in 2018.
As has been the case in recent years, Nicaragua's public sector continues to be perceived as the most corrupt in the region (transparency level 22 on a scale of 0 to 100), followed by Guatemala (26), Honduras (26), Dominican Republic (28), El Salvador (34), Panama (36), and Costa Rica (56).
The Dominican Republic, Panama and Honduras are the nations in the region where the majority of the population believes that corruption in government institutions has increased in the last twelve months.
The report "Barómetro Global de la Corrupción: América Latina y El Caribe 2019 - Opiniones y Experiencias de los ciudadanos en materia de corrupción" (Global Corruption Barometer: Latin America and the Caribbean 2019 - Opinions and Experiences of Citizens on Corruption), compiled by Transparency International and published on September 23, 2019, evaluated the perception of corruption in the countries of the region and some aspects of insecurity.
In 2018, the perception of corruption in public institutions increased in all countries in the region, except Panama, where it remained the same as in 2017, and El Salvador, where it slightly decreased.
As in previous years, Nicaragua's public sector continues to be considered the most corrupt in the region (level of transparency 25 on a scale of 0 to 100), followed by Guatemala (27), Honduras (29), El Salvador (35), Panama (37), and Costa Rica (56).
Although insufficient, the package of government spending containment measures proposed by the Alvarado administration is a good first step on the way forward to resolving Costa Rica's delicate fiscal situation.
The Minister of Finance, Rocio Aguilar, presented before the Legislative Assembly a plan to contain government spending that includes, among other measures, decreeing "...
In 2017, the perception of corruption in public institutions increased in all of the countries in the region, with the exception of Guatemala and Nicaragua, where it remained the same as in 2016, and in Costa Rica, where it decreased slightly.
The public sector still perceives Nicaragua to be the most corrupt country (transparency level 26 on a scale from 0 to 100), followed by Guatemala (28), Honduras (29), El Salvador (33), Panama (37) and Costa Rica (59).
The private sector has denounced the government for not convening in the Legislative Assembly bills related to public employment that would eliminate some of the privileges given to public servants.
From a statement issued by the UCCAEP:
December 5, 2016.The Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations of Private Enterprises (UCCAEP), is denouncing the government because of the lack of projects related to public employment in the call records drawn up by the executive branch, for special sessions of the Legislature.
The stubbornness of the Solis administration to award a highly technical job to a candidate rejected by employers confirms the importance that this specific person would have in the formulation of public tariffs.
Editor's note:
This review was written hours before the now newly appointed General Regulator of Costa Rica gave notice of his resignation from his position at the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE).
To fulfill the position of General Comptroller of the Republic the government proposes an official who has worked for more than 20 years in a senior position in the state electricity company.
The Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations of Private Enterprises (UCCAEP), has criticized the appointment of Mr. Roberto Jimenez Gomez, who has been a member of staff at the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) for more than 20 years, as a candidate put forward by the Governing Council for the position of Controller General of the Republic.
"Civil service careers are influenced by arbitrariness, politicization, patronage, the search for private profit and patronage criteria and with posts being filling up with public servants who do not have the sufficient merits to perform their functions."
From a statement issued by the Salvadoran Foundation for Development (FUSADES), regarding the report The Civil Service and Patronage:
Using trusts the Government of Honduras will transfer into private hands the financing and operation of the system for passport issuance and property registration.
Authorization has been given to the execution of a trust agreement to run the studies required for the structuring, financing, development and operation of the Project entitled "Modernization, Improvement, Management and Operation of the Immigration System and Passport Issuance in Honduras."
In Central America, in first place is Honduras (133 in the world), then Guatemala (113), Nicaragua (130), El Salvador, Panama (83), and Costa Rica (48).
In Latin America the country where the most corruption in the public sector is perceived is Venezuela (165 in the world), and the place where there is the least is Chile and Uruguay, which share position 20 in the world ranking.
As unemployment rises and poverty increases, the Costa Rican Minister of Finance has declared "urgent" the payment of bonuses to central government officials.
EDITORIAL OPINION
If you are an official in the central government of Costa Rica, your bonus this December will average 15.6% higher than 2010. But if you are poor, and most likely also unemployed, the only thing that will increase is the number of your neighbors in the same situation.
There are two proposals which are being evaluated, to privatize or to establish a joint venture.
The announcement of privatization was given by the President to a media outlet, "We have a very bad P.O. Box system. One of the things we are thinking of fixing it is the mail system ... In fact we must think about privatizing the postal service. "
The Minister of Government, Roxana Mendez, said the modernization of the mail system should be undertaken urgently, training staff and implementing the latest technology.
The Housing Minister is to invite tenders to develop an land use plan for the whole country.
Panama's vice-minister for housing and land-use planning, Marta Riera de Álvarez, commented that real estate developers will be consulted with the aim of understanding their public service needs in order to carry out construction projects.
"The land-use planning project has begun with the coastal region of Los Santos where 35 new infrastructure projects have been completed. This scheme will be extended to the rest of the country," reports Prensa.com.