ACCESSION NUMBER:00000
FILE ID:96092616.LAR
DATE:09/26/96
TITLE:26-09-96  ACCOUNTABILITY CALLED KEY TO FIGHTING CORRUPTION

TEXT:
(USAID's Schneider tells seminar)  (630)
By Michael Greenwald
USIA Staff Writer


WASHINGTON -- Accountability in all its forms -- political, financial
and legal -- must be increased to aid the fight against corruption in
Latin America, according to a senior official of the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID).

Speaking at a Sept. 25-26 seminar at the Woodrow Wilson International
Center on "Anti-Corruption Strategies in Latin America," Mark
Schneider, USAID assistant administrator for Latin America and the
Caribbean, gave the following formula to discourage corruption and
develop the expectation of good government in Latin American
countries: "dispersed power plus transparency plus accountability
equals good government."

The seminar gathered government officials, development bankers,
academics, journalists, and business executives to discuss
anti-corruption strategies in the wake of the Inter-American
Convention Against Corruption, adopted in Caracas last March and now
signed by 23 hemispheric countries, including the United States.

There was a clear consensus among seminar presenters that momentum in
Latin America is building in support of the fight against corruption.
As evidence, Schneider reminded participants that in the past three
years the presidents of Brazil and Venezuela, the vice president of
Ecuador, and the head of military intelligence in Guatemala all were
removed from their jobs amid allegations of corruption.

Stephen Quick, manager for strategic planning at the Inter-American
Development Bank (IDB), said that corruption interferes with the
consolidation of democracy by undermining citizen confidence in
government and slowing the growth of democratic institutions, and that
as a tax on the whole society it interferes with economic development
as well.

Brazilian Culture Minister Francisco Weffort added that many Latin
American countries find themselves in a fight between corruption and
democracy. The widespread existence of corruption threatens the
process of democratic transition that has taken place in the region
over the past 15 years, he said.

Alfonso Valdivieso, Colombia's first attorney general since that
office was established last year, said his office's stance against
corruption has given average Colombians the means, for the first time
in 15 years, to respect those who follow the law and have contempt for
those who act illegally.

He cautioned, however, that the government can only do so much to
fight corruption; society, he said, must also contribute by changing
attitudes and the conduct of ordinary citizens through education and a
new public ethic.

A representative of Mexico's Ministry of Controlorship said his
government is fighting corruption by strengthening accountability
mechanisms and establishing public education programs.

The presenters recommended many strategies to fight corruption.
Ibrahim Shihata, general counsel of the World Bank, said that
"corruption has become a major issue of international development
policy because its distributional effects discriminate against the
poor, it turns the rule of law to a rule of individuals pursuing their
private interests, and it disrupts public confidence in government."

The World Bank, he added, "is working out a general policy toward
corruption that will go far toward helping borrowing countries in
their efforts to reduce corruption."

Fernando Carrillo, senior adviser of the IDB, said the bank funds
projects in the region to further economic reforms, modernize the
state and update the judicial system as means to fight corruption.
James Wesberry, principal adviser to the World Bank, suggested that
donor agencies support regional non-governmental organizations in
their efforts to create citizen pressure on governments.

Schneider cited a survey of Latin American government and private
sector officials showing the four highest priorities in combating
corruption are transparent financial management systems, educational
programs, mechanisms that allow individuals to report corrupt acts,
and prosecution of corrupt civil servants.

The Woodrow Wilson International Center and Inter-American Development
Bank cosponsored the seminar with USAID support.
NNNN