Political accountability. The very concept invites the scorn of political commentators and the general public, who view it as a utopian principle whose purview never extends far enough to touch those who are truly in the upper echelons of power.
For instance, the brutal murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was critical of Saudi royalty, has resulted in some convictions so as to proffer some semblance of legitimacy to the Crown. However, everyone who has been charged is largely seen as dispensable ‘fall guys’, while Crown Prince Mohammad bin-Salman, as expected, continues to roam scot-free, despite evidence that it was he who orchestrated the whole episode.
Likewise, as part of investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, campaign chairman Paul Manafort, lawyer Michael Cohen, national security adviser Michael Flynn, foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos, and campaign officials Roger Stone and Rick Gates have all been convicted. Yet, despite finding overwhelming evidence of collusion with the Kremlin, President Donald Trump’s impeachment investigation was not able to convict him of wrongdoing.
On the other end of this spectrum lie Latin America and the Caribbean, whose countries have displayed a somewhat unique affinity for both investigating and convicting heads of state. While many of these trials are admittedly initiated once the leaders in question have exited office and are thus evidently politically motivated, the region nonetheless stands in isolation in terms of its commitment and ability to hold the most elite politicians accountable.
In Mexico, former Presidents Enrique Peña Nieto and Felipe Calderón, whose rules preceded that of current leader Andrés Manuel López Obrador, are being investigated for bribery, fraud, and for embezzling funds from state-owned oil company Pemex. These allegations emerged during the trial of Emilio Lozoya, a former adviser to Peña Nieto who was previously the CEO of Pemex. At this time, neither of the ex-Presidents have been indicted; however, prosecutors have opened an investigation into Peña Nieto, who was in power from 2012 to 2018.
In Colombia, former President Álvaro Uribe is being investigated for witness tampering and fraud during his time in office from 2002 to 2010. Uribe is alleged to have had close ties to paramilitary groups who fought a brutal US-backed war against leftist guerillas, led by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). It is claimed that the state was complicit in kidnapping, extortion, and numerous human rights violations against Colombian citizens during a period when thousands were killed.
In Argentina, ex-President Mauricio Macri—who ruled from 2015 to 2019, prior to current President Alberto Fernández—is set to be investigated for allegedly spying on over 400 journalists during his time in office, including foreign journalists who had travelled to the country for G20 and World Trade Organization (WTO) summits. He is simultaneously under investigation for spying on both political allies and opponents, such as former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who ruled from 2007 to 2015, and Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Rodriguez Larreta.
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner herself has previously been investigated for allegedly conspiring with the Iranian government to obfuscate the role of Iranian officials in the bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that resulted in 85 deaths. She was also implicated in a corruption scandal during the presidency of Macri, wherein she was accused of corruption alongside her husband Néstor Kirchner, who was coincidentally the President before his wife assumed office.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, too, is being investigated by the Supreme Court for political interference in the federal police force. The investigation was opened after Brazil’s Justice and Public Security Minister, Sergio Moro, resigned due to “political interference” and a lack of “autonomy” in the federal police after federal police chief Mauricio Valeixo was fired. Moro accused Bolsonaro of “breaking the promise of a carte blanche”. Bolsonaro sacked Valeixo, as he wanted someone with whom he had “personal contact, whom he could call, ask for information, intelligence reports”.
Former Bolivian President Evo Morales, who led the nation from 2006 to 2019, is being investigated for “corruption crimes” and “divert[ing] public resources”, alongside 591 other government officials. In addition to existing charges such as terrorism, genocide, sedition, and corruption, last month, the justice ministry issued a complaint against Morales for statutory rape and human trafficking over an alleged relationship with a sixteen-year-old girl during his time in office.
Simultaneously, former Peruvian President Alan Garcia is under investigation for taking bribes during the construction of an electric train in the country’s capital, Lima, by Brazilian company Odebrecht.
Admittedly, opening an investigation into a former head of state is not necessarily indicative of a country’s commitment to accountability, particularly when so many of the charges are dropped, the investigation is suspended, or only the ‘pawns’ in the scandals are sentenced. However, Latin American and Caribbean countries have displayed a unique ability to both indict and sentence former leaders.
In Ecuador, during the ongoing pandemic, ex-President Abdala Bucaram was placed under house arrest for his alleged complicity in the murder of an Israeli prisoner, and also faces charges of “unjustified private enrichment, fraud, fraudulent use of a public document, tax evasion [... ]and crimes against life”. Bucaram is also accused of arms trafficking, having links to organized crime, and of selling medical supplies to public hospitals at inflated rates.
In an investigation running parallel to this, former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, who was in the seat of power from 2007 to 2017, was also sentenced to eight years in prison in April 2020. He was on trial for corruption, accepting millions of dollars in bribes, and even kidnapping political opponent Fernando Balda.
Likewise, late last year, Suriname President Dési Bouterse, who came to power in 2010, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his involvement in the execution of 15 political opponents.
And, in 2017, former Guyana President Bharrat Jagdeo was arrested after being implicated in a land acquisition scandal.
It must be conceded that all of the aforementioned investigations, trials, and sentences are driven by political vendettas and motivations, in that these scandals generally only come to light once the officials in question have exited office and when the country is headed by a politician who belongs to a different political party. That being said, the region is also unique in its willingness to bring forth these investigations and trials while corrupt leaders are still in office.
For instance, Dilma Rousseff, who was the President of Brazil from 2011 to 2016, was impeached for her involvement in manipulating budget data to artificially reduce deficits, with the Senate voting 61-20 to remove her from office. She was also implicated in a multi-billion dollar corruption and money-laundering scandal with state-run energy company Petrobras. Moreover, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who served as president from 2003 to 2010 and was appointed as Chief of Staff by Rousseff, was arrested for acting as the ‘ringleader’ in the Petrobras scandal.
Similarly, Ecuador’s Bucaram ruled for just six months in 1997 before he was ousted from power for being ‘mentally unfit to rule’.
In fact, this unflinching endeavor to pursue the prosecution of heads of state even extends beyond national borders. For example, in November 2019, a Brazilian judge issued an arrest warrant for former Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes, who was in office from 2013 to 2018, for his involvement in a money-laundering scheme.
On one hand, these cases illustrate the degree to which corruption has permeated all levels of Latin American and Caribbean governments, to the point where it is essentially endemic. In fact, 74% of Latin American countries rank in the bottom half of Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index. Likewise, the 2020 Capacity of Combat Corruption (CCC) Index reports that countries in the region have, in fact, escalated such practices.
On the other hand, such indices have long been argued to be biased towards advanced Western economies, which often have equally high levels of corruption. Corruption, in and of itself, is something that states and its actors attempt to shroud from secrecy; therefore, such indices are flawed in that they can only measure tangible and visible corruption and thus cannot give an accurate measure of such activities in countries in which they are better hidden. Moreover, the implicit biases that plague such analyses mean that certain countries are scrutinized far harder than others.
Yet, independent of all these considerations, Latin American and Caribbean countries continue to both unearth and punish corruption at all levels of government in a way that countries that are supposedly ‘clean’ can only falsely claim to do.
Corruption and Prosecution: The Unique Case of Latin America and the Caribbean
The region stands in relative isolation in terms of its willingness to hold those at the highest levels of government accountable.
September 13, 2020
IMAGE SOURCE: AFP VIA GETTY IMAGESLatin American and Caribbean countries have displayed a somewhat unique affinity for both investigating and convicting heads of state.