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.
The project to build a mini city to house the offices of state entities, with a cost of $400 million, is facing opposition from the Varela administration.
The "Government City" project, which remained on paper for several years, was resuscitated during the Martinelli administration, with companies even being pre-qualifying for the work, although in the end it never actually materialized.Now the Varela government is arguing that it will not allocate budget funds to carry out the project.
The private companies should have to consider the risk posed to Costa Rica's business climate by the excesses of state union leaders.
EDITORIAL
Costa Rica's democratic traditions pale before the attempt made by a trade unionist to silence the media by threatening the safety of journalists.
An article in Crhoy.com quote statements made by the union member Fabio Chaves regarding the news in Costa Rican media revealing information about unacceptable privileges enjoyed by many officials, acquired against article 57 of the Constitution itself: "Wages will always be equal for equal work under identical conditions of efficiency."
"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:
In Costa Rica civil servants earn on average 150% more than workers in the private sector, which contributes decisively to the growth of inequality and lowers the overall competitiveness of human resources.
"... State overregulation has made business legality a privilege that can only be accessed with economic or political power. "
EDITORIAL
In these countries, poor since time immemorial, state bureaucrats whose regular salaries allow them to live in a first world fantasy land have as their primary concern checking that things are done as they should be, that is to say, as they are done in the first world.
Officials do not understand or want to understand innovation, because their privileges are always anchored in the past and never in the future.
In Costa Rica it is impossible to register a vehicle manufactured in the country, because there is no Customs Declaration, which is required by law.
An article in Elfinancierocr.com describes the vicissitudes of a Costa Rican entrepreneur who has who developed an electric vehicle and is now looking for funding to produce it.
Why is it that in general public enterprises register losses while private ones normally earn profits?
An analysis of the issue by Rogelio Arce Barrantes in Prensalibre.cr summarizes the situation with the words of the popular [Spanish] saying "If its free, let's party."
Although Arce Barrantes focuses on Costa Rica, the situation can be extrapolated to other Central American countries, where there are state enterprises engaged in various business activities, whether in the production of goods or services.