PERU: MINOR CORRUPTION JUST PART OF LIFE IN PERU.
| Autor | Fraser, Barbara J. |
| Cargo | Reprint |
[The following article by Barbara J. Fraser is reprinted with the permission of Noticias Aliadas in Lima, Peru. It appeared in the Jan. 15, 2003, edition of Latinamerica Press.]
The minivans that transport Lima's 8 million residents around the city are notorious for traffic infractions. So it was not surprising when a police officer pulled over a van during a recent morning rush hour. Passengers chuckled when they heard the jingle of change as the driver gathered up his driver's license and registration to show the officer. A few minutes later, the van was on its way.
Despite the Interior Department's new anti-bribe ad campaign ("The police are to be respected!"), business as usual for Peru's bus drivers involves "settling" minor infractions on the street corner instead of actually getting a ticket. And, while 63% of Peruvians identify corruption as a major problem, in third place after the economic crisis and lack of jobs, 70% either approve of or tolerate such acts as cheating on taxes, copying exams, or shoplifting, according to a recent national corruption survey.
Peru made its mark on the corruption charts in late 2000, when the government of then President Alberto Fujimori (1990- 2000) collapsed after secret videos were leaked that showed his national security adviser, Vladimiro Montesinos, shelling out wads of cash to politicians, media moguls, and businessmen (see NotiSur, 2000-10-06). As investigations have dragged on, however, and the government of President Alejandro Toledo has become embroiled in nepotism and influence-peddling scandals, some Peruvians are wondering if anything has changed.
"Peru has gone from having extensive corruption in public administration to having systemic corruption. It's a structural problem," said Jose Ugaz, who headed the first probe into the Fujimori administration's financial shenanigans.
The survey, commissioned by Proetica, a nongovernmental anti-corruption organization founded by Ugaz, did not measure large-scale government corruption. "The objective was to look at ordinary citizens' attitudes toward corruption," Ugaz said.
The results are as contradictory as human nature. While half the respondents said they considered Peru a corrupt country, only about 30% said they considered corruption a problem in their own locality. The lowest figures were in the jungle--probably because there is little central government presence there, Ugaz said.
When asked which of a series of institutions was the most...
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