Corruption: Panama sicker than Costa Rica

THE CORRUPTION of government officials and its negative influence on the competitiveness of economies will not stop as long as there rulers who celebrate being "a bit corrupt."

The comment, under the heading: “In the Land of the Blind the One-Eyed Man is King comes from an editorial in Central America Data under the heading: “In the Land of the Blind the One-Eyed Man is King following the release of the latest world gradings.

Panama’s ratings worsened and there were no government comments. But in Costa Rica the government played with the wording of the index released by Transparency International

The editorial reads: The 2013 Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International has reconfirmed that all of the Central American countries are seriously "sick with corruption."

However, as pointed out in an article in Elfinancierocr.com, Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla, on her Twitter account, welcomed the news and wrote: "Costa Rica is leading indices of transparency in Latin America and improving its position in 2013."Madam President should be corrected: the Corruption Perceptions Index of Transparency International is not an index of transparency but as its name suggests exactly the opposite.

The index calculated for Costa Rica by Transparency International index is 53, halfway up the range of between 0 – indicating a very corrupt country – and 100 – indicating total absence of corruption.

In the Central American region Guatemala has an index of 29, El Salvador 38, Honduras 26, Nicaragua 28, and Panama 35. Costa Rica does not head any transparency index, it is just the least sick with corruption in Central America.