Cuba battles corruption

Cuba battles corruption
IANS

Havana, Feb 21 (IANS/EFE) Control, prevention and participation by the
community are "essential" in Cuba's battle against corruption and
indiscipline in state corporations, the Communist-ruled island's
controller general said.

"The job of dealing with corruption and taking control of state finances
is a matter for all revolutionaries," and the first control "has to
start with each of us individually", Gladys Bejerano said in an
interview published in the Sunday edition of the official daily Juventud
Rebelde.

The fight against corruption has been a "banner issue" for the
government of President Raul Castro, who in 2009 created the Controller
General's Office to conduct audits on hundreds of state companies and
institutions.

For Bejerano, who is also one of Cuba's vice presidents, public
involvement in fighting corruption and illicit activities "needs real
participation and is not just a matter of form".

"When we speak about organizing a comprehensive fight against corrupt
activities, indiscipline and disregard for the law, we're thinking about
all levels, and that includes the community," she said.

"If someone sells it's because someone else is buying. And we say
nothing. The people aren't responsible for the black market, it's the
responsibility of whoever has the product and doesn't manage it
correctly - but dealing with that situation has to be done by all of us.
Because if we lose the revolution, who loses? Those in charge of
managing goods and every one of us," she said.

"We have to educate people in their role as inspectors," she said.

The problem of corruption has been an important feature of recent
addresses by Raul Castro, who has described it as "one of the worst
enemies of the revolution".

--IANS/EFE

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