Inter-American Development Bank news bulletin
November 28, 2006
Citizens must demand accountability from their political leaders, says Transparency International Chairwoman.

An important challenge against corruption is taking root in Latin
America and the Caribbean said Huguette Labelle, Chair of
Transparency International.

Speaking at a lecture series convened by the Organization of the
American States (OAS) this month, Ms. Labelle underscored
the high socioeconomic cost of embezzlement which left
the poor most harmed. Raising consciousness about the problem
has been the first step in fighting corruption, she said, as well as
getting civil society, governmental authorities, international
organizations and the mass media interested in establishing new
customs and transparent practices in the hemisphere.
The role of civil society in the fight against corruption was the
most important, she said, as was access to the conditions that
empower citizens through transparency – “the open books for
people to see.”

Because Latin America and the Caribbean still lacked solid judiciary
and financial systems, said Ms. Labelle, people remained “dissatisfied
with their governments” and corruption indices continued to increase
in the region, “even though Transparency International has spent more
than a decade fighting against corruption,” she said.

www.iadb.org/NEWS/articledetail.cfm?Language=En&parid=4&artType=WS&artid=3450 [PDFver here]