Money laundering has positive economic effect on economies, but also impoverishes the quality of institutions leading to dramatic effects on quality of life in society.
The excellent analysis by Norma Lezcano in his article on Estrategiaynegocios.net, on the US Treasury Department´s inclusion of members of the powerful Rosenthal family in the list of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) can be extrapolated to all Central American countries, and is a warning to the governments of the region, where drug trafficking has ingratiated itself and is creeping through state institutions, weakening them by making them serve criminal aims, and preventing them from carrying out their duties properly.
It has been announced that deposits up to $9,200 (L200,000) per person will be returned, and then payments to employees, depositors and others, noting that "... there are sufficient resources to address them all."
The cause is the inclusion of the institution in the list of the U.S Office of Foreign Assets Control, and the freezing of its assets abroad.
Of the countries on the isthmus Costa Rica, Guatemala and Panama stand out as countries that are causing "great concern" in this matter.
From the report by the US State Department: "International Narcotics Control Strategy Report Volume II - Money Laundering and Financial Crimes" March 2015:
Costa Rica
Transnational criminal organizations increasingly favor Costa Rica as a base to commit financial crimes, including money laundering.
"If the calculations made for Guatemala in 2013 and 2014 are taken as a reference for other Central American countries, the volume of illegal trade in the region, could be between 3.4% and 4% of GDP".
"If the calculations made for Guatemala in 2013 and 2014 are taken as a reference for other Central American countries, the volume of illegal trade in the region, could be between 3.4% and 4% of GDP".
The Global Financial Integrity report places Costa Rica and Panama in positions 14 and 18 in the list of countries that moved the largest flows of illegal money in the world between 2003 and 2012.
EDITORIAL
The report entitled "Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries: 2003-2012" by Global Financial Integrity, said that between those years, the flow of illicit money in Costa Rica exceeded $94 billion, about $30 billion more than the amount accumulated between 2001 and 2011, according to reports from the same institution in mid-2013.
Due to failures in the operation of the 7 radars already installed, the government has decided to suspend implementation of the $120 million project with the Italian company Selex, a subsidiary of Finmeccanica.
From a statement issued by the Presidency of Panama:
The Government of the Republic of Panama, in its goal of protecting the interests of the Panamanian government, has decided to suspend development of the radar project being carried out by the company Selex of the Finmeccanica conglomerate due to "serious deficiencies in the performance of the installed equipment."
Sooner or later, the growing momentum in all of the States of the Union to legalize marijuana will motivate the federal government to remove the ban on its use.
EDITORIAL
As noted by Juan Carlos Hidalgo on his blog on Elfinancierocr.com "... Today, after more than 40 years of continuous failures, we are witnessing the collapse of the international drug war, which has cost the continent hundreds of billions of dollars and tens of thousands of lives."
The two nations have been included in the list of countries with deficiencies in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
The Financial Action Group, assigned to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development noted that Panama and Nicaragua are in breach of the recommendations that the agency provides to improve controls for preventing money laundering in the financial system.
Drug trafficking and gangs are the main factors responsible for intentional murders in the most violent countries in the world: Honduras, Belize, El Salvador and Guatemala.
According to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime at the United Nations (UNODC), in 2012 Honduras recorded 90.4 killings per 100,000 inhabitants.
In Belize, the homicide rate is 44.7 per 100 thousand inhabitants, in El Salvador it is 41.2, and in Guatemala is 39.9.
The state prosecutor has signalled the penetration of drug trafficking organizations in the Panamanian economy and in political institutions.
According to the prosecutor, Ana Belfon, during her first year of work she has perceived an increased penetration of organized crime into the economy and institutions of the Panamanian government.
"No wonder drug traffickers can penetrate institutions, since they have practically created a parallel economy," Belfon said.
A draft bill proposes that the state seize goods from money laundering and other illicit activities.
"The suggestion has been raised to create a law that relates to forfeitures, because there is so much income and assets being generated, but we do not know what to do with those assets" said Ana Belfon, from the Attorney General's Office.
"Between April 2012 and June 2013 alone, the Statistics Center of Public Prosecutions recorded $1.3 million apprehended by the prosecutor specializing in organized crime," noted an article in Capital.com.pa.
Guatemala's foreign minister in Europe has proposed a transition to the regulation of drugs in order to control their health effects, and to take away economic power from the drug cartels.
An article in Prensalibre.com reports that "The Chancellor took part in a seminar yesterday run by British Group of the IPU in which MPs from 30 countries discussed "the reform of drug policy" and the experiences of each nation over the last 18 months, particularly in the framework of the OAS (Organization of American States) . "
An ECLAC study has revealed that companies in Guatemala and El Salvador pay the highest costs because of organized crime in Latin America.
According to data from the Global Competitiveness Index 2012-13, analyzed by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), in its report on safety in the logistics sector in the region, Guatemala has a score of 1.86, on a scale of 1 to 7, regarding the influence of crime and violence in operating costs of enterprises, where 1 is "very much" and 7 means "nothing".
The movement of illicit capital in Costa Rica and Panama counts for more than 10% of their respective GDP, meaning that its removal would be a major blow to their economies.
Editorial
The report entitled "Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries: 2001-2010" by Global Financial Integrity, reveals that during the first 10 years of the new century, the flow of illicit money in Costa Rica amounted to $64 billion, while in Panama the total was $40 billion.
While Central American businesses assume the costs of the bureaucracy associated with money laundering controls, big banks are granted a license to steal.
EDITORIAL
The United States has lost the moral authority in the fight against drug trafficking, and countries who suffer in the drug war, should taken that into account.