Transparency International’s Global Corruption Barometer – Latin America and the Caribbean 2019 points to a substantial lack of political integrity among political figures and institutions and a generalized mistrust in government leaders. The Dominican Republic stands out for rampant corruption in the region. Overall, the report states that the Dominican Republic is the second most corrupt country in Latin America, with Venezuela in the first place and Peru in third place.
The percentage of Venezuelans who believe corruption has increased in their country by 87%, followed by the Dominican Republic at 66%.
72% of the people in the Dominican Republic think the government is doing badly tackling corruption, up from 59% in the same study in 2017. Only citizens in Venezuela (91%) and Panama (79%) have a worse opinion. 23% of citizens said they had paid a bribe to get a government service.
Vote-buying was at 46% in the Dominican Republic, second to Mexico that leads with 50%. The results of the poll show the Dominican politicians have a long way to achieve political integrity.
The perception of corruption attributed to the President increased in 2019 to 58%, compared to 39% in 2017. Corruption associated with Congress was up to 48% from 34% in 2017. And that of government officials almost doubled when it went up to 50% in 2019 from 28% in 2017.
On the positive side, sextortion rates, the percentage of citizens experiencing gender corruption or knowing someone who has, was on the low side in the region.
Also on the positive side, Dominicans seem to be optimistic rampant corruption can be reverted. The Dominican Republic is sixth of 18 countries in efforts of ordinary citizens making a difference in the fight against corruption with 79%. The Bahamas was first with 85%, followed by Costa Rica (84%), Brazil (82%), Guyana (82%) and Panama (80%).
General elections are scheduled to be held next year in February (municipal) and May (presidential and congressional).
Opposition party presidential pre-candidate Luis Abinader of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) commented on the survey that showed the DR as a leader in regional corruption. He said on 24 September 2019 that the Barometer results are proof there are no controls or penalties on corruption in the country. “That is what we have been denouncing, that in the country there is an unpunished hyper-corruption that eats away the resources that go lacking for services such as power, drinking water, public health, security, social security, and jobs,” explained the presidential hopeful.
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25 September 2019