Anti-corruption efforts in the Western Hemisphere and the January Special Summit of the Americas in Monterrey

(published in The Daily Observer January 08, 2004)  

Democracy has advanced considerably throughout the Americas over the past two decades. With the exception of Cuba, all of the countries of the region have democratically elected governments. This achievement is one of the great feats of our time.

Yet the transition is incomplete. Democracy means more than elections: it must also include the transparency and accountability of governments to their citizens. It means the rule of law, not the rule of elites. Dictatorships have fallen around the world, but in too many cases their legacy of corruption remains. This undermines democracy, exacts a heavy economic and social toll, and disrupts security.

Across the hemisphere, millions living in poverty seek only the opportunity to earn a better life for themselves. Corruption stymies this aspiration. Many see bribery or favouritism as the only way around the arbitrary application of government power or heavy bureaucratic regulation. These impediments force them into the lawless underworld of the black market, and lock them out of legitimate economic activity. When corruption prevents citizens from participating in the open market economy, they cannot benefit from it, neither are they likely to lend it support.

This is evident in a 2002 Latinobarómetro report that found only 32 per cent of Latin Americans were satisfied with democracy, and only 24 per cent had positive feelings about market economies. These sentiments result in part from corruption, which rewards elites and forces many others - more than half the population in some nations - to work in the informal economy.

No culture or people is inherently corrupt. Many of today's leading economies have struggled with corruption in their past, and they are not immune to it at present. However, their political and legal institutions have become more transparent over time, and their economies work increasingly to the advantage of all, not just the powerful. Accelerating this process throughout the Americas would bring inestimable gain to everyone, and strengthen our entire region.

In the absence of such an effort, many nations in the Americas pay a huge price. For example, nations with widespread corruption receive only a minimal share of the global economy's foreign direct investment. The risk associated with operating in corrupt economies, along with drastically higher transaction costs because of a lack of openness and transparency, prevents organisations in these countries from accessing the capital they need, or compels them to pay more than others to get less. The net effect is that these economies fall farther behind.

The agenda of democracy and freedom in the Americas is being expanded to support anti-corruption efforts more decisively. Governments must be fully accountable to their citizens and take meaningful steps to replace favouritism and corruption with equal opportunity and the rule of law.

There is hope. Some nations in the region have taken bold steps to combat corruption, make their political systems more accountable and create fair legal environments in which citizens' industriousness and creativity can flourish. Legal and regulatory systems have been streamlined, and clear property rights and titles have been extended not only to elites, but to all citizens. Jamaica's improved security measures to prevent document fraud in the Registrar General's Department led to the firing of six employees.

We must work together in the Americas to give this movement a push. In 1996, the Organisation of American States adopted the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption, which seeks to institutionalise good governance, transparency and anti-corruption laws. Last month, ninety-four nations signed the UN Convention Against Corruption in Merida - 20 of them from the Western Hemisphere. The convention enshrines the global conviction that corruption is completely unacceptable and that international co-operation on this issue is essential.

We must now translate the words of these conventions into effective action. The coming Special Summit of the Americas provides an opportunity for the hemisphere to follow words with deeds. By committing at the Special Summit to substantial steps to increase transparency, to accelerate implementation of the Inter-American Convention, and to increase international co-operation against corruption, leaders of the Americas will demonstrate their clear intention to shine light in all the dark corners of the hemisphere, to leave the corrupt without refuge, and to ensure that government works in the interest of all.

The rule of law and economic freedom form a critical pillar of the liberty that is everyone's birthright. Now is the time to ensure that all can enjoy this freedom.