Brazil falls in Latin American anti-corruption ranking, Uruguay remains first

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Corruption indexes are springing up like mushrooms and it is easy to lose track of them.

In the latest specimen called Capacity to Fight Corruption (CCC) Index, prepared by the AS/COA forum (American Society/Council of the Americas), based in the USA, and the global risk consulting firm Control Risks, Brazil has fallen.

The study considers 15 Latin American countries. Together, they account for 92% of the region’s GDP.

Brazil went from the 6th position in 2021 to the 10th in 2022 but is above the regional average, which means that the “setbacks of the last three years” have not entirely reversed the “decades of strengthening” of institutions, according to the survey.

Uruguay remains the best-performing country in the CCC Index for the 3rd consecutive year, followed in 2022 by Costa Rica and Chile. Brazil is ahead of Paraguay, Mexico, Guatemala, Bolivia, and Venezuela.

According to the report, countries with higher scores are “more likely to see corrupt actors prosecuted and punished,” while in those with lower scores, a continuation of impunity would be “more likely.”

METHODOLOGY

The survey is conducted by the AS/COA forum (American Society/Council of the Americas), dedicated to education and debate on the American continent, and the global risk consulting firm Control Risk.

It takes into account 14 variables:

• independence and efficiency of the judiciary;
• independence and efficiency of anti-corruption agencies;
• access to public information and overall government transparency;
• autonomy and resources for prosecutors and investigators;
• level of expertise and resources available to combat white-collar crime;
• quality of rewarding collaboration instruments;
• level of international law enforcement cooperation;
• quality and enforcement of campaign finance legislation;
• legislative and regulatory processes;
• overall quality of democracy;
• civil society mobilization against corruption;
• improvements in education;
• quality of the press and investigative journalism;
• digital communication and social networks.

The data used were extracted from:

• Basel Institute of Governance;
• Freedom House;
• Harvard Electoral Integrity Project;
• International IDEA;
• International Budget Partnership;
• Newzoo Global Mobile Market Report;
• Reporters Without Borders;
• Unesco;
• World Bank;
• World Economic Forum;
• World Justice Project.

According to the report, the objective of the CCC Index “is not to shame or point fingers at countries, but to promote a policy-based debate that helps governments, civil society, and the private sector identify – through data and a robust methodology – areas of success and deficiencies to be addressed.

With information from Poder360