Immigration Scandal Hits Ecuador

April 1, 2010

Juan Aguiñaga, Ecuador’s under secretary for foreign affairs until last week, and two notaries were arrested yesterday afternoon on charges of operating a network to provide Cuban citizens with fraudulent Ecuadorian citizenship documents. According to an investigation carried out by Ecuador’s Transparency Council, at least 120 Cubans were close to obtaining the illegal documents.

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Former Guatemalan President to Be Extradited to the United States

January 25, 2010

A tribunal in Guatemala yesterday ordered the arrest of former President Alfonso Portillo (2000-2004) on charges of embezzlement. The decision came a day before a seven-year investigation led to the formal indictment today in the United States of Mr. Portillo by the U.S. District Court in New York on charges of money laundering.

Mr. Portillo has been accused of siphoning away millions of dollars in public funds and funneling much of the money through banks in the United States, Europe and elsewhere. During his presidential campaign, Mr. Portillo ran largely on an anti-corruption platform.

According to reports, the Guatemalan police have executed four search warrants in different locations but have not yet located the now-fugitive former president.

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Chile, Uruguay Ranked Least Corrupt Countries in Latin America

November 17, 2009

Chile and Uruguay have been ranked the least corrupt countries in Latin America in 2009 by Transparency International, a global nongovernmental organization that releases annual ratings based on its Corruption Perception Index (CPI). The results of the Berlin-based organization’s annual survey are being reported throughout the hemisphere today.  In addition to being the most transparent in Latin America, both countries rank among the 30 least corrupt countries in the world, which the report calls “a benchmark and inspiration for the Americas.” 

The CPI is a survey of surveys of experts, government employees and business persons, based both in-country and abroad. Among the 31 countries from the Americas included in the 2009 results 10 countries scored above 5 (out of 10)—indicating a reasonable level of transparency—while 21 scored lower than 5, indicating a serious corruption problem. In these countries, weak institutions, poor governance practices and the excessive influence of private interests undermine efforts to promote equitable and sustainable development.

The lowest ranking countries in the hemisphere are Haiti and Venezuela, with rankings of 168 and 162 respectively, out of a global total of 180 countries. The only country in Latin America that showed a significant increase in its CPI score from 2008 to 2009 was Guatemala, which moved from a ranking of 96 to 84 out of 180.

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Former Costa Rican President Sentenced for Corruption

October 5, 2009

Rafael Ángel Calderón led Costa Rica from 1990 to 1994 and had planned to run in the February 2010 presidential elections, but is now facing the possibility of five years in jail. The sentence—delivered on Monday—is expected to be appealed.

Under house arrest since 2004, Calderón was found guilty of embezzling at least $8.6 million from a $40 million Finnish loan for the country’s social security fund. The money was then distributed among government employees, businesspeople and politicians.

He is the country’s first former head of state to be tried for corruption.

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Fujimori Handed Fourth Sentence

October 1, 2009

Already facing the rest of his life in prison, former President of Peru Alberto Fujimori, 71, received an additional six years on Wednesday for charges of corruption.  At Fujimori’s fourth and final trial in two years, the Lima court also fined him $9 million for authorizing wiretapping and bribes during his 10-year rule that ended in 2000.

Fujimori had plead guilty to the corruption charges on Monday, cutting short a trial at which 60 Peruvians were prepared to testify against him.  By pleading guilty, critics believe Fujimori sought to avoid further embarrassing his daughter Keiko Fujimori, considered a frontrunner in the country’s 2011 presidential race.

Fujimori also avoided probing into an era in which the government is thought to have set up a vast spy network to combat the Shining Path terrorist organization, and then used the network for political gain.

Last April, Fujimori received a 25-year sentence for human rights abuses including murders at Barrio Alto and La Cantuta University.  Under Peruvian law, multiple sentences are not accumulative, rather guilty parties serve the longest they have received.  Peru’s Supreme Court is currently reviewing Fujimori’s appeal over the 25-year sentence, though observers say the verdict is not likely to be commuted.

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Mexico Doubles Customs Inspection Force and Improves Border Technology

August 18, 2009

In a greater effort to target tax-evasion and thwart potential efforts of smuggling and corruption, the Mexican government has replaced its 700 customs agents with over 1,400 newly trained and better-educated customs inspectors who have undergone extensive background checks. Announced on Sunday, Mexico’s customs authority spokesman Pedro Canabal said that “this change is part of our response to new demands in the fight against contraband” and also noted that the new deployments would improve Mexico’s tax collection, but the main benefit would be to prevent the entry of pirated and cheap goods that flood Mexico’s domestic industries. Military soldiers aided with some of the border controls during the transition.

This effort follows the government’s previous overhauling of the police force—all done in an attempt to root out corruption and tackle the drug cartels.

The border crossings will also have more dogs trained to identify drugs and other banned items and the new agents have been trained with the new high-tech equipment. Previously, Mexico only checked 10 percent of the 230,000 vehicles that crossed the U.S.-Mexico border daily, but the new technology will photograph, weigh and check the license plate of every vehicle that crosses the border.

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Daily Focus: Despite Corruption Charges, Former-President Calderon Announces Candidacy in Costa Rica

April 29, 2009

Former Costa Rican President Rafael Calderón (90-94) has formally announced his candidacy in the 2010 presidential elections. He will represent Costa Rica’s Unidad Social Cristiana.

His announcement was met with little surprise; rumors that Calderón was seeking his former office were numerous. Complicating his bid, however, are corruption charges from 2004, which landed him briefly in jail, and his ongoing trial—which has dragged on for years.

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