Dominican Republic, the only American country with great anti-corruption progress this decade

Dominican Republic It is the only country in America that has made significant progress against corruption this decade and, since 2020, it has risen 7 points, according to a report released this Tuesday by Transparency International (TI).

In the 2023 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of this organization, with a scale from 0 (very corrupt) to 100 (very low corruption), the Dominican Republic has 35 points, 3 more than in the previous year’s analysis (32 ), which places it in 108th place on a list that, globally, Somalia closes in 180th place and that regionally concludes Venezuela in 177th position.

Transparency International affirms that in a few years this Caribbean country “has managed to strengthen the independence of the Judiciary and the Attorney General’s Office, allowing progress in the investigation of cases of grand corruption, without interference.”

Furthermore, in recent years it has professionalized the Judiciary, improving transparency and promoting its digital transformation, adds TI, which also highlights the work “clue” of the media and civil society organizations in monitoring the actions of Justice when raising public awareness about the costs of corruption and demanding accountability.

In the last decade, only two countries in the Americas, Guyana (now with 40 points) and the Dominican Republic, have improved their scores on the Corruption Perceptions Index, while those of the rest have stagnated or decreased.

According to the latest CPI, two thirds of the countries in the region have a score of less than 50 out of 100, which is why America, according to Transparency International, continues to face serious challenges in the fight against corruption.

Following the data made public today, Citizen Participation, TI’s representation in the Dominican Republic, nevertheless insisted that ““The delay in judicial processes, the cases that have already fallen into impunity for this reason, as well as the possibilities of this being repeated continue to be a concern and a possible obstacle to progress in the fight against corruption and crime.” .

For its part, the Dominican Alliance Against Corruption (Adocco) valued the good results of the Dominican Republic in the Corruption Perception Index.

This organization highlights the progress of the Caribbean country: 3 points in 2010, 26 in 2011, 32 in 2012, 29 in 2013, 32 in 2014, 33 in 2015, 31 in 2016, 29 in 2017, 30 in 2018, 28 in 2019, 28 in 2020, 30 in 2021, 32 in 2022 and 35 in 2023.