Venezuela ranked as the most corrupt country in Latin America

[Bacchus4.0]

Venezuela and Paraguay are still viewed as the most corrupt countries in Latin America, while Uruguay and Chile are seen as the leaders in transparency, according to a report by German NGO Transparency International (TI) released on Tuesday.

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On a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (highly transparent), the transparency ranking is headed by Uruguay (73), Chile (71) Puerto Rico (62) and Costa Rica (53), followed by Cuba (46), Brazil (42) and Salvador (38).

In the lower end, which includes the most corrupt countries in the region, there is Venezuela (20), Paraguay (24), Honduras (26), Nicaragua (28) and Guatemala (29).

The CPI is prepared on a yearly basis since 1995 based on different studies and surveys on perceived levels of corruption in the public sector in different countries.

http://www.eluniversal.com/economia/131203/venezuela-ranked-as-the-most-corrupt-country-in-latin-america

[DetlefK]

1. A further conspiracy by the capitalists. But don't worry...

Now that Maduro can rule by decree and free of oversight, he will get rid of the corruption in no time.

[Bacchus4.0]

2. Maduro declared there was no corruption in Venezuela about 6 months ago

it must have resurfaced recently.

[Marksman_91]

3. I think you're wearing your tinfoil hat a bit too tight n/t

[Judi Lynn]

4. Is Transparency International's measure of corruption still valid?

Is Transparency International's measure of corruption still valid?

Critics say the NGO's Corruption Perceptions Index conveys an 'elite bias' and doesn't show evidence of actual corruption

~ snip ~

Transparency International trumpets the CPI as "the most widely used indicator of corruption worldwide". The high-profile and widely reported index has, however, amassed its fair share of critics over the last two decades.

Some have attacked the CPI's reliance on the opinions of a small group of experts and businesspeople. This, says Alex Cobham, fellow at the Centre for Global Development, "embeds a powerful and misleading elite bias in popular perceptions of corruption" and can lead to inappropriate policy responses.

In an article for Foreign Policy, entitled Corrupting Perceptions, Cobham suggested earlier this year that Transparency International should drop the CPI and said it would be more useful to collect better evidence of actual corruption or information about how corruption is or isn't affecting citizens. "The index corrupts perceptions to the extent that it's hard to see a justification for its continuing publication," he said.

Others argue it is simply impossible to relay in a single number the scale and depth of a complex issue like corruption, and compare countries accordingly. "The index gets much-needed attention, but it overshadows (Transparency International's) other activities and exposes it to criticism," said the Economist in a 2010 article that dubbed the CPI the "murk meter".

More:
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2013/dec/03/transparency-international-measure-corruption-valid

[Bacchus4.0]

5. they could use additional measures such as whether a president has used specially acquired powers

to combat corruption.