{"id":523861,"date":"2022-12-09T06:39:16","date_gmt":"2022-12-09T03:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/corrupt-leaders-just-keep-going-down\/"},"modified":"2022-12-09T06:39:16","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T03:39:16","slug":"corrupt-leaders-just-keep-going-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/corrupt-leaders-just-keep-going-down\/","title":{"rendered":"#Corrupt leaders just keep going down"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2dca8eaa17e\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2dca8eaa17e\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/corrupt-leaders-just-keep-going-down\/#%E2%80%9CCorrupt_leaders_just_keep_going_down%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Corrupt leaders just keep going down&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/corrupt-leaders-just-keep-going-down\/#Coup_attempt_foiled\" >Coup attempt foiled<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/corrupt-leaders-just-keep-going-down\/#Narco_politics\" >Narco politics<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CCorrupt_leaders_just_keep_going_down%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Corrupt leaders just keep going down&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n        <\/aside>\n<p>He who said \u201ca fish rots from the head down\u201d probably had Latin American presidents in mind. On the surface, the region <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ears democratically stable. But widespread corruption among its chief executives undermines accountability and public faith.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The public often votes for reform but ends up disappointed. Sometimes, frustrated by greedy elites, they back a demagogue like Venezuela\u2019s Hugo Chavez, who then makes corruption much worse. Nevertheless, recent regional support for left-wing leaders \u2014 all the major countries\u00a0in Central and South America now have or are about to have leftist governments \u2014 probably originates with public disgust for high-level corruption.<\/p>\n<p>Reformers face an uphill struggle. Weak legal systems make corruption hard to clean up.\u00a0In 2020, an index created by the Americas Society suggested the region\u2019s anti-corruption reforms were slipping. Recently, a State Department official identified corruption as a root cause of the migration streaming to the United States. In some places, corruption operates on an industrial scale, especially in those countries that supply or serve as transit routes for illegal drugs.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Coup_attempt_foiled\"><\/span>Coup attempt foiled<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Still, events this week offer some glimmers of hope. The recent take-down of some major politicians are positive signs that, even for Latin America\u2019s rich and powerful, corruption is getting harder to get away with.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/corrupt-leaders-going-down-338.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Hugo Chavez delivers a speech during a gathering held as part of his electoral campaign in Vargas on Aug. 31, 2012.\" class=\"wp-image-24951834\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/corrupt-leaders-going-down-338.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/corrupt-leaders-going-down-338.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/corrupt-leaders-going-down-338.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>The public sometimes supports a demagogue like Hugo Chavez out of frustration with greedy elites.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In Peru, this week\u2019s removal of President Pedro Castillo for attempting a coup against the nation\u2019s legislature is the most recent example. The Congress \u2014 an impeachment-happy institution, to be sure \u2014 had been attempting to try him on corruption charges. Castillo tried to dissolve Congress to stop it. Having lost nearly all his congressional support, Castillo was removed from office and arrested. Now his vice president, Dina Boluarte, has taken charge.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In Argentina, the court conviction of Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner \u2014 the country\u2019s shadow president, according to some observers \u2014 on significant fraud charges probably will lead to jail time and could prevent her from taking over as president again. Allegedly she steered contracts worth nearly $1\u2009billion to a friend.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/corrupt-leaders-going-down-341.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during a press conference at the transitional government building in Brasilia on Dec. 2, 2022.\" class=\"wp-image-24951838\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/corrupt-leaders-going-down-341.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/corrupt-leaders-going-down-341.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/corrupt-leaders-going-down-341.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was sentenced to jail in 2019 before being re-elected as president in October. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Even in hard-pressed Guatemala, we see some headway. This week a Guatemalan court sentenced former President Otto Perez to 16 years in prison for graft.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Narco_politics\"><\/span>Narco politics<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Some countries are pretty far gone, like Honduras, where the term \u201cnarco-state\u201d is not out-of-bounds. Even so, in April, the Drug Enforcement Administration extradited former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernandez to the US to face drug trafficking charges. He\u2019s the first president in the region nabbed for drug trafficking since Panama\u2019s infamous Manuel Noriega in 1992.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/corrupt-leaders-going-down-342.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Juan Orlando Hernandez is escorted by Members of the Police Special Forces to be extradited to the US to face charges of taking bribes from drug traffickers at Honduran National Directorate of Special Forces on April 21, 2022 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.\" class=\"wp-image-24951835\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/corrupt-leaders-going-down-342.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/corrupt-leaders-going-down-342.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/corrupt-leaders-going-down-342.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>The DEA extradited Juan Orlando Hernandez to the US for drug trafficking charges in April.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But is current President Xiomara Castro, whose husband, former President Jose Manuel Zelaya, may have been associated with the same drug traffickers, likely to clean things up?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The United States sometimes acts effectively against egregious offenders like Hernandez. But on promoting deeper reforms, we often can\u2019t do much more than talk a good <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a>. Last year, Vice President Kamala Harris extravagantly promised to \u201croot out corruption, wherever it exists.\u201d The Biden administration\u2019s $4 billion pledge to tackle corruption in the region so far has yielded meager results, especially since we need these governments\u2019 cooperation on many issues, including immigration.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, the region\u2019s wins against corruption too often slide backward. In Brazil, the sweeping \u201cCar Wash\u201d corruption investigation, which revealed widespread corruption during the presidency of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his Labor Party successor, led to his conviction and jail sentence in 2019 for taking kickbacks. But in October Lula was re-elected president.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>Michael J. Ard teaches intelligence studies for Johns Hopkins University and is a former deputy National Intelligence Officer for the Western Hemisphere.<\/em>\n                        <\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/12\/08\/corrupt-leaders-just-keep-going-down\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Corrupt leaders just keep going down&#8221; He who said \u201ca fish rots from the head down\u201d probably had Latin American presidents in mind. On the surface, the region appears democratically stable. But widespread corruption among its chief executives undermines accountability and public faith.\u00a0 The public often votes for reform but ends up disappointed. Sometimes, frustrated&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":523862,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/corrupt-leaders-going-down-340.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[76853,136931,22845,70673,89738,71463,71126],"class_list":["post-523861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-latin-america","tag-12-8-22","tag-argentina","tag-corruption","tag-honduras","tag-peru","tag-politicians"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523861"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523861\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}