The country rose six positions in expert evaluation but remains the worst evaluated in the OECD; They ask to strengthen the INAI as an anti-corruption medium.
According to the most recent report from Transparency International, Mexico chapter, Mexico continues far from the average table at the end of 180 countries globally with the perception of corruption.
Although it is up to two points and six places compared to 2019 and its rating on the Corruption Perception Index is 31 points (where 0 would be the lowest evaluation and 100 the best possible evaluation), it is far from the best examples in the world.
Thus, Mexico continues at the bottom of the table of countries worldwide with the worst perception of the fight against corruption, according to the most recent Transparency International report, Mexico chapter.
Of the 180 countries evaluated for the CPI, Mexico rose six places to evaluate combating malpractices in the public service, so it is now in 124th place. But it remains in 37th place of those that make up the OECD.
In addition to including the opinion of analysts, experts, and business people, the new report contains specific references to the management that governments have made of public resources to address the covid-19 pandemic.
Transparency Mexicana and Transparency International presented the IPC report for the countries to know the areas where they have weaknesses to combat corruption practices and find opportunities.
STRENGTHENING INAI
Among the recommendations that Transparencia Mexicana made on the IPC''s delivery is strengthening the National Anticorruption System. Amid the organizations that make it up, the National Institute of Transparency, Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data (Inai).
It was also mentioned that the legal framework of action of the Superior Audit Office of the Federation (ASF) should be expanded so that it is capable of evaluating public spending in real-time and not only when a fiscal year closes.
On January 8, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador proposed reviewing an initiative to eliminate Inai, among other autonomous organizations, for which he promised to "provide public information" in less than 72 hours. "Fast track, this way it is obliged to deliver the information within 72 hours, that there are no reservations, complete transparency and that the official who does not deliver on time is sanctioned," said the president in one of his morning conferences.
Also, they called for the institutions that administer justice in the country and the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR) to give concrete results, such as the recovery of assets diverted in large cases of corruption.
One of the gaps that were detected in the experts'' opinions to integrate the IPC is that there is a lack of sanctions against the corruption networks that are already known to the public opinion in the Mexican Anticorruption System.
IMPUNITY PREVAILS
Last year, Transparency International reported that, in the period 2016 to 2019, none of the transnational corruption cases involving Mexican companies and officials were sanctioned by the country''s justice authorities.
In the historical data of the IPC, Mexico presented one of the lowest evaluations after the federal elections of 2018, since in 2019 it obtained only 29 points out of 100 possible on the classification of fighting corruption.
Other countries that maintain the highest impunity rates are Peru and Honduras. Organizations that function as planners of the fight against the governments'' harmful practices have been eliminated, and political polarization has increased.
The Mexican government''s call was strengthened not to undermine the ASF''s functions, the Inai, and the FGR, as part of the National Anticorruption System.
BRIBED CITIZENS
Since 2017, Mexico has improved its perception of the fight against corruption, since people who used public services, between 2017 and 2019, claimed they requested a bribe to improve government care decreased by 10%.
The standards of bribery to citizens decreased, between 2017 and 2019, in medical services, where they went from 39% to 16%, and in public schools, where they went from 33% to 19%.
On the other hand, in those couple of years, the rate of bribery to police institutions increased, as they went from 30% in 2017; to 52% in 2019. The perception of corruption among members of Congress also increased.
RESULTS BY REGION
Latin America is no longer among the regions with the highest perception of impunity or a low fight against corruption. It now had an average of 43 points as a whole, very close to Asia, with 45 points.
Among the Latin American countries with a better evaluation than Mexico in terms of fighting corruption, Uruguay occupies first place in the region-, Chile, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, and Argentina, and Cuba.
Below Mexico are the Dominican Republic, Paraguay, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Besides, the latter is one of the five worst evaluated of the CPI and occupies 176th place of the total of countries being assessed.
The regions with the worst perception of fighting corruption are Africa and Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. In contrast, the best-evaluated area follows Western Europe and the countries of the European Union.
The countries with the highest evaluation in the CPI are Denmark and New Zealand, with 88 points out of 100. Followed by Singapore, Finland, Sweden, and Switzerland. The worst evaluated are Syria, Somalia, and South Sudan, with less than 15 points each.
Traducción: Valentina K. Yanes