WASHINGTON -- Two keys to Latin America's continued transition to democracy are decreasing government corruption and reducing regional poverty and income inequality, says Mark Schneider, assistant administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Speaking May 19 at a Capitol Hill forum about the results of an anti-corruption conference held earlier this month at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia, Schneider said governments can gain the trust of their citizenry by ensuring that where corruption occurs, "the threat of exposure and prosecution are real," resulting in "less and less" of the problem. But anti-corruption measures alone will not ensure public confidence in government. Inequality and poverty must be targeted as well, he said.

"Hopefully, we'll continue to see progress" in each of these areas, Schneider said. Schneider said an international donors' conference, scheduled to begin May 24 in Stockholm, Sweden, to help the Central American victims of Hurricane Mitch, will succeed only if the global community is confident that the institutions of government, especially in Nicaragua and Honduras, are providing a full and public accounting of how donor money is being used. The Atlanta conference, held May 5 at the Carter Center, attracted a large number of government leaders from Latin America, which demonstrated the importance of the corruption issue to the region. Amplifying some of the conclusions reached at Atlanta, Schneider offered a shorthand definition of corruption and good governance. Corruption, he said, equals monopoly plus discretion minus accountability. In other words, Schneider said, corrupt governments have a monopoly of power plus absolute discretion over their decisions, and they are not accountable for their actions. Conversely, he said, good governance equals a dispersion of power, plus checks and balances, transparency and accountability. What this means, he said, is that dispersion of power strengthens local governments, supports decentralization of government, and encourages civil society to participate in government decision-making. "If corruption is the abuse of public office for private gain," he said, "then the opposite of corruption is not merely anti-corruption, but the practice of good government." Schneider said that in the last five years, USAID has changed its policy focus to seek ways to strengthen democratic transition by promoting the "relationship and partnership" between civil society and local government.

To promote openness in government, Schneider said USAID helped to create a Latin American journalism center to train the region's media in investigative reporting. That program, he said, is now "sustaining itself." In addition, Schneider said, USAID helped establish an office for a special "press rapporteur" under the Organization of American States. Creation of this office, which was called for at the 1994 Summit of the Americas in Santiago, Chile, also helps promote press freedom in the region, Schneider noted. Schneider also mentioned that USAID is funding what is called the "Americas Accountability/Anti-Corruption Project," which is now in its 10th year. The project supports anti-corruption efforts by government officials and assists non-governmental organizations (NGOs), especially existing professional and civic groups. Bilingual news about the project is available on the Internet at http://www.respondanet.com. In what was billed as their "Final Statement" at the "Transparency for Growth" conference in Atlanta, a group of 32 former and current heads of government from Latin America and the Caribbean called corruption "one of the principal threats to democracy, growth and equity in the hemisphere."

Corruption, the leaders said, "distorts public services, deters investment, discriminates against the poor, and destroys public confidence in democratic governments." However, they added that the "good news is that there are solutions" to corruption, and "improvements can begin immediately. But it takes civic courage and commitments from leaders, international lenders and other organizations, coalitions of businesses and NGOs in civil society to illuminate previously dark corners of government transactions. The antidote to corruption is information, committed leadership, collective action, and clear rules."

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Last modified: 7 January, 2002
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