Cuba drops in corruption index

Posted on Thursday, 12.05.13



Cuba drops in corruption index

BY JUAN O. TAMAYO

JTAMAYO@ELNUEVOHERALD.COM



Cuba slipped five places on an international corruption ranking,

reinforcing the perception that bribery is a growing problem in a

country caught between its Soviet-styled economy and its push toward

market reforms.



The Germany-based Transparency International's Corruption Perception

Index (CPI) for 2013 ranked Cuba in 63rd place among 177 countries and

territories — tied with Ghana and Saudi Arabia — and five spots lower

than in the previous year.



Uruguay held the top spot in Latin Americanat 19th place, followed by

Chile in 22nd, Puerto Rico in 33rd and Costa Rica in 49th. Following

Cuba were all other Latin American nations, with Mexico in 106th and

Venezuela in 160th — the region's worst and tied with Eritrea and Cambodia.



The CPI, published annually since 1995, uses at least four and up to 10

independent surveys to assign a score to each country and territory from

one to 100. Denmark and New Zealand tied for first, the United States

tied in 19th and Somalia, Afghanistan and North Korea tied for last.



The drop in Cuba's ranking was "so small that it's hard even to guess

what caused it, or whether the move was due to changes in perceptions of

other countries or of Cuba," said Phil Peters, head of the Cuba Research

Center in Alexandria, Va., and an advocate of improved U.S. relations

with the island.



Corruption has long been a problem in Cuba, however, with workers

pilfering from state stockpiles in order to make up for their low

salaries, and foreign companies paying bribes to officials who handle

multi-million dollar deals but earn as little as $30-$40 a month.



A 2006 report by U.S. diplomats in Havana alleged Cuba was "rife with

corrupt practices" up to Fidel Castro's "closest advisors." It quoted a

Swiss businessman as saying that in Cuba, "just like everywhere in the

world, a million-dollar contract gets you $100,000 in the bank."



But the government of Raúl Castro launched a crackdown after he

succeeded ailing brother Fidel in 2008, branding corruption as "one of

the principal enemies of the revolution" and saying that it was

undermining his push for market economic reforms.



Castro created the post of comptroller general to audit government

offices and state-run enterprises, and appointed his son Alejandro, an

Interior Ministry officer who also serves as his top security advisor,

to supervise and enforce the anti-corruption campaign.



Some of the bigger scandals unearthed involved Cuba's

telecommunications, aviation, nickel, cigar and construction industries,

and reportedly led to the discreet arrests or dismissals of scores of

government officials.



Also caught in the roundups were two foreigners who administered Coral

Capital Group, a British firm that had plans to invest $1 billion on the

island. They were jailed for two years, tried and sentenced to time served.



Canadian Sarkis Yacoubian was sentenced to nine years in prison in June

for a corruption scheme that involved several Cuban officials. His

cousin and business partner, Krikor Bayassalian, a Lebanese citizen, was

sentenced to four years.



Still awaiting trial are another Canadian, Cy Tokmakjian, arrested in

2011, and Nessim Abadi, a Panamanian businessman in his 70s who was

arrested in August 2012. Both men sold foreign made machinery and other

goods to the Cuban government.



Cuba's government-controlled news media has not reported on the

corruption cases involving foreign businessmen.



Source: "Cuba drops in corruption index - Cuba - MiamiHerald.com" -

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/12/05/3797318/cuba-drops-in-corruption-index.html