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Fighting Corruption and Strengthening Democracy: Lessons from Central America
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Overview
The Biden administration has identified the fight against corruption as a cornerstone of U.S. efforts to address the root causes of migration from the 鈥淣orthern Triangle鈥 of Central America. What is the record of previous internationally-supported efforts to combat corruption and impunity in the region?听 What can be learned from key figures who have driven the anti-corruption efforts? How can fighting corruption and strengthening democratic institutions go hand-in-hand?听Are there pre-conditions for successful efforts in countries with a long history of weak rule of law?听The July dismissal of Guatemalan anti-corruption prosecutor Juan Francisco Sandoval, who headed the Special Prosecutor鈥檚 Office against Impunity (FECI), constitutes yet another serious setback in regional anti-corruption efforts.
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Quotes
Gloria Patricia Porras
鈥淵o estoy de acuerdo con las declaraciones del Presidente Biden, que ha calificado el tema de la corrupci贸n como un tema de seguridad nacional. Porque la corrupci贸n no afecta s贸lo a nuestra sociedad, trasciende a ella. Estamos hablando, entonces, que es un problema de nivel transnacional. El camino que yo advierto que debi茅ramos tomar para afrontar este fen贸meno evidentemente no es unilateral, no es 煤nicamente de Guatemala, no es 煤nicamente de El Salvador o de Honduras. Es un tema que debe ser abordado a nivel internacional, porque los efectos trascienden hacia otros pa铆ses鈥.
鈥淚 am in agreement with the statements of President Biden, who has described the issue of corruption as a national security issue. Because corruption does not only affect our society, it transcends it. We are speaking of a transnational problem. The path that I advise we should take to confront this phenomenon, evidently, is not unilateral; it is not only of Guatemala, it is not only of El Salvador or Honduras. It is an issue that must be addressed at the international level, because the effects transcend to other countries.鈥
鈥淣ecesitamos del apoyo internacional con esta experiencia que ya tuvimos, creo que debe darse una amplia participaci贸n a sociedad civil, y los esfuerzos deben encaminarse a la protecci贸n de los distintos funcionarios en los tres pa铆ses que est谩n dispuestos a afrontar esta lucha contra la corrupci贸n. Y esta protecci贸n debe iniciar con evitar la criminalizaci贸n que se intenta hacer con los distintos funcionarios鈥.
鈥淲e need international support with this experience that we have already had. I believe that there must be the broad participation of civil society, and efforts must be directed toward protecting the various officials in the three countries who are willing to tackle the fight against corruption. And this protection must begin by avoiding the criminalization of the actions of various officials.鈥
鈥溌縌u茅 es lo que sucede cuando un pa铆s es se帽alado de alta corrupci贸n, en donde los funcionarios que no se prestan a este tipo de acciones, no pueden vivir en el pa铆s? Lo que sucede es que es un pa铆s que econ贸micamente no va a prosperar, y si el pa铆s no prospera, se van a incrementar estos fen贸menos de inmigraci贸n que todos queremos evitar. No queremos ver a las mujeres caminando a pie por los desiertos para poder llegar a los Estados Unidos. No queremos ver a ni帽os desnutridos llegando a este pa铆s con la expectativa de una mejor vida. Entonces poner los ojos no es solamente decir y advertir y se帽alar, sino tambi茅n la toma de acciones.鈥
鈥淲hat happens when a country is marked by high corruption, when officials who are not involved in corrupt acts cannot live in the country? What happens is that the country that will not thrive economically; and if the country does not thrive, the migration phenomenon that we all want to avoid will increase. We do not want to see women walking across deserts to get to the United States. We do not want to see malnourished children arriving in this country with the expectation of a better life. Therefore, it鈥檚 not just a question of speaking up and issuing warnings, but also taking action.鈥
Iv谩n Vel谩squez G贸mez
鈥淐reo que lo fundamental debe ser partir de una realidad. Y es que los pa铆ses de la regi贸n鈥攑articularmente Guatemala porque es el caso que m谩s conozco鈥攕on estados capturados.鈥
鈥淚 believe that it鈥檚 fundamental to start by acknowledging reality. And that is that the countries of the region鈥攑articularly Guatemala, because it is the case I know the most鈥攁re captured states.鈥
鈥淸Mi segunda proposici贸n] es en cuanto a la necesidad de orientar los mayores esfuerzos en la consolidaci贸n de la ciudadan铆a, de la sociedad civil, como un elemento fundamental en la lucha por la recuperaci贸n, por la construcci贸n de democracia y la prensa independiente. Creo que con una fuerza ciudadana como est谩 expresando actualmente en Guatemala, con una funci贸n de denuncia, pero tambi茅n de aglutinamiento de conocimiento que propicia la prensa independiente y particularmente del periodismo de investigaci贸n es posible empezar a replantear las acciones que deben desarrollarse en la regi贸n. Insisto en el proceso de consolidaci贸n del estado de derecho.鈥
鈥淸My second point] is in terms of the need to direct the greatest efforts to the consolidation of citizenship, of civil society, as a fundamental element in the struggle to recovery and build democracy, including the independent press. I believe that, with the force of the citizenry, as currently expressed in Guatemala, with denunciation but also with of the gathering of knowledge that fosters an independent press and particularly investigative journalism, it is possible to begin rethinking the kinds of actions that need to be carried out in the region. I insist on the process of consolidating the rule of law.鈥
Pedro Abramovay
鈥淵o creo que hay un l铆mite que aparece mucho en lo que vimos en Guatemala, en Honduras, que est谩 vinculado al hecho de que las 茅lites que capturan en el estado鈥 Yo creo que eso es muy, muy importante que los estados en nuestros pa铆ses, muchas veces, fueron construidos con el objetivo de transferir riqueza del estado del pa铆s para 茅lites espec铆ficas. Entonces, la corrupci贸n no es una enfermedad de un sistema sano, la corrupci贸n es el sistema, y es el estado鈥.
鈥淚 believe that there is a limitation that appears a lot in what we see in Guatemala, in Honduras, that is linked to the fact that the elites have captured the state鈥 I think that it is very, very important to understand that the state in our countries were often constructed with the aim of transferring the wealth of the state to specific elites. Therefore, corruption is not a disease of a healthy system; rather, corruption is the system, and it is the state.鈥
鈥淣o podemos y no es posible enfrentar la corrupci贸n sin fortalecer la democracia, porque siempre los actores que est谩n capturando desde hace siglos el estado, van a tener fuerzas suficientes para en alg煤n momento empujar de vuelta los esfuerzos que estamos haciendo de anticorrupci贸n. Entonces tenemos que pensar en estrategias鈥.
鈥淲e cannot, and it is not possible, to confront corruption without strengthening democracy. The actors who for centuries have captured the state will have enough strength to push back against the anti-corruption efforts. So we have to think about strategies.鈥
鈥淸En] la estrategia actual鈥 liderada por la vicepresidenta Harris鈥 se habla de la necesidad de crear y de apoyar democracias inclusivas en la regi贸n. Ese es un punto clave. Que no puede ser solo el apoyo a los sistemas judiciales, a los sistemas de funcionarios p煤blicos, que s铆 es importante y no podemos dejar y abandonar, me parece eso otro riesgo鈥 Pero hay que tener cooperaci贸n internacional tan fuerte cuanto con los ciudadanos de esos pa铆ses, con las organizaciones de sociedad civil, con los medios de prensa independientes de esos pa铆ses.鈥
鈥淭he current strategy鈥 led by Vice President Harris鈥 speaks of the need to create and support inclusive democracies in the region. That is a key point. It cannot just be support for judicial systems, for civil service systems 鈥 those are important and we cannot abandon them. But there is another risk. We must have the strongest possible international cooperation with the citizens of these countries, with civil society organizations, and with the independent press.鈥
Ana Mar铆a Calder贸n
鈥淵a ahora se habla de captura del estado, se habla de macro corrupci贸n, se habla de cooptaci贸n institucional, de captura del aparato del poder p煤blico por grupos de la delincuencia. O sea, el narcotr谩fico puede capturar al estado. Considero que este es un paso esencial para poder realmente hacer un combate frontal contra la corrupci贸n. Si se reconoce la enfermedad, se podr谩 prescribir la medicina. Y es indispensable entender c贸mo funciona la corrupci贸n, porque ya no estamos hablando de la corrupci贸n de solo un peque帽o grupo de funcionarios, o de solo un pa铆s. Como bien lo dec铆a Gloria [Porras], la corrupci贸n es transnacional鈥.
鈥There is talk of state capture, of macro corruption; there is talk of the cooptation of institutions, of the capture of the public apparatus by criminal groups. Drug trafficking groups can capture the state. An essential step for combatting corruption head-on is to recognize the disease. That way the proper medicine can be prescribed. It is essential to understand how corruption works, because we are no longer talking about the corruption of just a small group of officials, or of just one country. As Gloria [Porras] said, corruption is transnational.鈥
驴Ser谩 que estos tomadores de decisiones solamente est谩n dando la apariencia de legalidad y su compromiso no es real? Entonces, all铆 es donde se necesita identificar un real compromiso de aquellos tomadores de decisiones, de aquellos parlamentos, de aquellos congresos, de hacer los cambios normativos que van a llevar hacia el restablecimiento de la democracia.鈥
Is it that these decision makers are only giving the appearance of legality and their commitment is not real? Therefore, it is necessary to identify which decision-makers, parliaments, congresses, have a real commitment to making the normative changes that will lead to the restoration of democracy.
鈥淸Las acciones de la administraci贸n Biden] traen como mensaje para los funcionarios corruptos que no hay m谩s impunidad, y justamente como lo mencionaba en su oportunidad la congresista Norma Torres, 鈥榚l mundo los est谩 mirando鈥. Entonces la exposici贸n de la corrupci贸n es esencial. No puede seguir ocult谩ndose el grado de corrupci贸n que existe en un pa铆s, que tan poderosa que tan fuerte es la corrupci贸n, porque solamente al tomar conciencia de la gravedad de la corrupci贸n鈥 podr谩n reaccionar los tomadores de decisiones鈥.
鈥淸The actions of the Biden administration] convey a message to corrupt officials that there will be no more impunity. As Congresswoman Norma Torres has said, 'the world is watching you.' The exposure of corruption is essential. It is not possible to continue hiding the degree of corruption that exists in a country and the power and strength of corruption. Only by grasping the seriousness of corruption ... will decision makers be able to act.鈥
Speakers
Gloria Patricia Porras
Magistrate-Elect, Constitutional Court, Guatemala;听Public Policy Fellow, Wilson Center
Iv谩n Vel谩squez G贸mez
Pedro Abramovay
Ana Mar铆a Calder贸n
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Latin America Program
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