The main problem in Latin America today is a problem of economy, poverty, and corruption.

Corruption is the most significant that struck the media all over Latin America.

From Panama documents to Ode Brecht and Petrobras scandals that expanded and took with each other all of Brazil to eight Mexican governors who are convicted, the main reason for economic fallout in South America is corruption.

Even though this is the problem number one as we have mentioned above, there are some signs of discontent and people demand that the government tackle corruption much more aggressively.

It is challenging to fight corruption especially if people live in surroundings where that is considered as a typical activity that must always be practiced. We have to change our behavior so that we can improve expectations. Corruption drags down economic growth in drains public resources. This is why people from South America have to work together to fight this immersive problem.

There Are Many Forms Of Corruption

The definition of corruption is an abuse of public power for private gain. It involves two favors and often something that both sides desire. There are numerous forms of bribery. It can happen on a small scale and bureaucratic level or at a grand scale and political level. After corruptive behavior becomes a norm, it is difficult to get rid of it because it becomes a part of our thoughts.

It is still difficult to fight corruption and its core because entire individual expectations and beliefs have to change from the root. When crime becomes the norm, people believe that the only way to achieve something is by giving a bribe. For example, in Ode Brecht, we can see that a Construction Company offered bribe so that it could get projects more efficiently.

South America needs to implement policies that will change the social perception when it comes to corruption because people have started to look at it as a general rule. When corruption falls, the government will quickly detect those who stand out, and that is the entire philosophy.

As we have mentioned before, fighting against corruption is not that simple. It is a common problem that every government should isolate and push out. The key for that is high leadership and a society that understands why corruption could lead to problems on a larger scale.

Corruption Is A Problem In Latin America

It is difficult to measure corruption, but some agencies tried to create corruption perceptions. When we see the results, we can say that the Caribbean and Latin America are merging market economies, but they have lots of problems with corruptive behavior because it became a norm.

At the same time, Uruguay and Chile score great in governance and institutional indicator, and income per capita levels, but other countries don’t score too well. It all varies from state to state, but the main reason for that is weak law enforcement, bureaucratic red tape, inadequate frameworks, different loopholes and lack of transparency leading to an environment filled with corruption.

Even though there are cases of improvement in the last two decades, Latin America had only a few success stories. With systematic corruption, the capacity of the state weakened to the core and higher corruption is accompanied by inequality. The most evident costs are mislocation of talent through distorted incentives, lower provision for public goods, and lower legitimacy in the higher economic uncertainty.

Is There A Chance For Revival?

As we have mentioned above, Latin America is a continent with the highest amount of corruption.

However, the public has started to lose patience, and that creates a possibility for new leaders to emerge and change perspectives. They must enforce strategy to fight corruption if there is any chance for the situation to change!