Corruption in Peru

On Transparency International's 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index, Peru scored a 36 on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("highly clean"). When ranked by score, Peru ranked number 105 among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked number 1 is perceived to have the most honest public sector.[1][2] According to the 2021 AmericasBarometer survey of the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP), 88% of Peruvians believe that half to all politicians in the nation are corrupt, the highest percentage in Latin America according to the study.[3]

Political corruption
Concepts
Corruption by country
Africa
Asia
Europe
North America
Central America
South America
Oceania

History

Fujimori government

Peru's most prominent political corruption scandal is probably the case of Alberto Fujimori, Peru's ex-President. Fujimori has been convicted of having ordered killings, embezzlement of public funds, abuse of power and corruption during his 10 years of presidency (1990-2000). In 2006, Fujimori fled to Japan with an alleged USD 600 million of public assets. He has been sentenced to a total of more than 30 years in prison.[4]

During his rule, Fujimori helped to maintain the government's image of honesty by using his advisor, Vladimiro Montesinos, to carry out the administration's corrupt procedures.[5] Montesinos served as the head of the National Intelligence Service (SIN) where he systematically bribed politicians, judges, and the news media.[6] An empirical analysis of Montesinos' corruption conducted by John McMillan and Pablo Zoido describes how Montesinos used over 75% of SIN's unsupervised budget to bribe over 1,600 individuals.[7] McMillan and Zoido estimate that at the height of the scandal more than U.S.$3.5 million was being paid monthly to various congressmen, judges and media executives.[8] The most common bribes were paid to television-channel owners which allowed Fujimori's administration to control the media and politically influence Peruvians.[9]

Recent history

After further scandals and facing a second impeachment vote, Pedro Kuczynski, his successor, resigned the presidency on 21 March 2018 following the release of videos showing alleged acts of vote buying, presenting his resignation to the Council of Ministers.[10][11] As a result of the Odebrecht scandal and other controversies, in 2018 all of Peru's living former president were either imprisoned or the focus of corruption investigations.[12]

Bribery

Irregular payments and bribes are often demanded from companies operating in Peru, and government contracts are often awarded to well-connected companies. Many companies experience the demand for facilitation payments as a result of Peru's extensive bureaucracy.[13]

See also

References
  1. "The ABCs of the CPI: How the Corruption Perceptions Index is calculated". Transparency.org. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  2. "Corruption Perceptions Index 2021: Peru". Transparency.org. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  3. "'Essential ingredient' for halting corruption in Peru? Common good". Christian Science Monitor. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  4. "Freedom in the World- Peru". Freedom House. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  5. McMillan, John, and Pablo Zoido (2004). How to Subvert Democracy: Montesinos in Peru. Journal of Economic Perspectives 18.4 (2004): 70
  6. McMillan, John, and Pablo Zoido (2004). How to Subvert Democracy: Montesinos in Peru. Journal of Economic Perspectives 18.4 (2004): 70
  7. McMillan, John, and Pablo Zoido (2004). How to Subvert Democracy: Montesinos in Peru. Journal of Economic Perspectives 18.4 (2004): 73
  8. McMillan, John, and Pablo Zoido (2004). How to Subvert Democracy: Montesinos in Peru. Journal of Economic Perspectives 18.4 (2004): 82
  9. McMillan, John, and Pablo Zoido (2004). How to Subvert Democracy: Montesinos in Peru. Journal of Economic Perspectives 18.4 (2004): 70
  10. "PPK renunció a la presidencia del Perú tras 'keikovideos' | LaRepublica.pe". La República (in Spanish). 21 March 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  11. "PPK renunció a la presidencia del Perú". Gestión (in Spanish). 21 March 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  12. "LatAm in Focus: Why Peru's Political Establishment Is Scared | AS/COA". Council of the Americas. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  13. "Peru Corruption Profile". Business Anti-Corruption Portal. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
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