A symptom of a corrupt society is this “fix”. If there is a mess between comrades, then it must be “fixed”, if it is a dispute about caliber, the same, it must be fixed. Every disorder is invented, every iniquity is solved, every scandal is buried.

Everything imaginable is fixed. There is no limit to the fertile imagination that is inspired by vividness. It would be good if the “arrangement” I’m talking about consists of a legitimate transaction made on the table, in a transparent alliance, in reasonable and decent negotiations. But no. It is not the “arrangement” in which the anchored Ecuadorian society lives. That’s the other one. It is that of the crooked patch, that of the secret pact, that of the magic corner, where those who are professional and skilled with influence share slices, bury violations and cover up all kinds of mischief.

“Repair” displaced the old concepts of professional and institutional “prestige”. You no longer have to have prestige or know anything. On the contrary, prestige gets in the way. You must know the colored letter. You have to navigate the confusing world of corridors, armchairs and phone calls. You have to knock on the right door, talk to the key man, face what is scandalous, immoral and clumsy. The point is to achieve results. The rest, law, principles, scruples, are the nonsense of the uninformed. It is grotesque that quite often the fixer and fixer get away with even becoming an “example” for future generations. History is full of monuments to cynicism.

This “decoration culture” permeates society, intersects public and private, large and small. This is, let’s say, the normal state in which people move. This is what explains why Ecuador is one of the countries with the highest rate of corruption in the world, why the institutions are grotesque screens and ridiculous masks that fail to hide the truth that everyone knows and that many, cowardly, hide and conceal. The “compromise culture” makes the republic a lie, the market a story, democracy a clown praised by everyone for its compromises, in the kind of agreed-upon falsifications and intellectual frauds in which society swims like a fish in water.

The “fix” poisons the life of the community. Until such a practice is opposed and integrity is achieved as an effective social value rather than a boring sermon chapter, all efforts to reform laws and restore institutions will be futile. and they will sound like repeating mockery. This includes, of course, education, but above all, the decision to put an end to brilliance and reject fraud. This is where civil society and the government should have an essential point of connection and the goal of making the republic a decent place to live.

Inaugurating public, transparent and long-term contracts is a task that involves many resignations.

Are the leaders and their groups willing to make such a commitment?

The key point of real political reform. (OR)