How Courts Can Make or Break Latin America's Corruption Battle

When it comes to corruption perceptions, Latin America is stagnating. And what’s one major obstacle to improvement? Judiciary independence, explains Transparency International’s Luciana Torchiaro. In this episode, she dives deep into how the region fared in her organization’s latest Corruption Perceptions Index, released in January 2024, and tells AS/COA Online’s Luisa Leme why attempts to weaken the judiciaries in countries such as Brazil, Mexico, and Honduras are hindering the battle against corruption. But the news isn’t all bad. She explains how steps taken in the Dominican Republic serve as a model, and why Chile has an opportunity to restore its standing as a regional transparency leader. Access the Transparency International 2023 report: http://t.ly/nvrSP Read Luciana Torchiaro’s analysis on the challenges to independent judiciaries in Latin America: http://t.ly/1Q3ZW AS/COA also monitors corruption progress in Latin America. See our 2023 Capacity to Combat Corruption Index, published in partnership with Control Risks: https://www.as-coa.org/CCC2023 The music in this episode is “Compay” by Ártemis Duo. Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRxcjm2Sia4 Find out about upcoming concerts at: www.musicoftheamericas.org Check out other episodes and subscribe to Latin America in Focus on your preferred platform via: www.as-coa.org/podcast We’d love to hear from you. Share feedback at: latamfocus@as-coa.org Opinions expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect those of Americas Society/Council of the Americas or its members. Follow us on social media: X: @ASCOA Instagram: @ascoa LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ascoaonline/ Bluesky: @ascoa.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ASCOA/