浪花直播

Corruption scandals have burst into the public consciousness as never before in Latin America over the past several years, coming to light as a result of strengthened judicial systems, media investigations, and the efforts of civil society. The far-reaching bribery scandal of Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht has spread to 12 countries of the region, tainting, among others, Colombia's 2014 presidential campaign.

In recent days, a leading Colombian judicial official in charge of corruption investigations was arrested for allegedly taking bribes. Public opinion polls in Colombia show that concern about corruption far outstrips interest in the peace process, with over a fifth of Colombians seeing corruption as the most important problem that the new president who takes office in 2018 must solve.

On July 7, the 浪花直播 Center's Latin American program convened a discussion on the fight against corruption in Colombia with two leading officials at the forefront of these efforts.

Key Quotes:

Inspector General Fernando Carrillo Florez (original Spanish): 

"Es imposible concebir un escenario de paz si no somos capaces de luchar y de ganar esta lucha contra la corrupci贸n."

"It鈥檚 impossible to imagine how we can set the stage for peace if we are not able to fight and win the battle against corruption."

"Seguimos creyendo que la lucha contra la corrupci贸n es un problema de h茅roes, de superh茅roes, de caudillos, de peleas unipersonales, en donde no hay instituciones sino hay personas que se meten a dar esa lucha. Y eso es completamente equivocado. Una democrac铆a consolidada debe ser una lucha diaria de los ciudadanos."

"We continue believing that the fight against corruption is a problem for heroes, for superheroes, for warlords, for individuals, where there aren't institutions, but people, who do the fighting. This is completely mistaken. It is citizens who must fight daily to strengthen democracy."

鈥淸Con el Contralor y con el Fiscal,] por lo menos se necesitan cinco mosqueteros, en donde est茅&苍产蝉辫;por un lado la justicia... por el otro lado debe estar la empresa privada鈥� y finalmente, una alianza con la ciudadan铆a de empoderamiento de los ciudadanos contra la corrupci贸n鈥� Es a trav茅s de la denuncia de los ciudadanos como hemos descubierto los grandes esc谩ndalos de corrupci贸n a nivel regional.鈥� 

鈥淸Together with the Comptroller and the Solicitor General,] at least five musketeers are needed: on one side stands justice; on the other, private corporations鈥� and finally, an alliance should be made with the population to empower citizens against corruption鈥� It is through the complaints by citizens that we have discovered the greatest corruption scandals at the regional level.鈥� 

鈥淓s casi como que toda la lucha de los 90 que a nosotros nos toc贸 contra los carteles de la droga, hoy es contra los carteles de la corrupci贸n y para eso necesitamos indiscutiblemente que fluya la informaci贸n, y en eso hemos estado precisamente conversando con los oficiales federales y altas autoridades del Departamento de Estado y del Departamento de Justicia.鈥�

鈥淛ust as, in the 1990s, we spent all of our time fighting against drug cartels, today we fight against cartels of corruption. To do so, we undeniably need the free flow of information, and that is exactly what we have been doing: speaking with federal officials and the top authorities at the Department of State and the Department of Justice.鈥�

"Yo creo que la aspiraci贸n de todos es que se puede hacer pol铆tica en esta regi贸n sin ensuciarse las manos."

"I believe that the aspiration of everyone is that we could do politics in this region without getting our hands dirty."

Comptroller General Edgardo Maya Villazon: 

"Estos trabajos de la lucha contra la corrupci贸n que es lo que se plantea y es lo que interesa, m谩s que describirla. No nos pasemos describiendo la enfermedad, busquemos la medicina para combatir esa enfermedad, porque vamos para 200 a帽os en ese prop贸sito de descripci贸n y de debates y de foros sobre la corrupci贸n. S铆, est谩 bien el diagnostico. Est谩n bien los factores. Pero est谩 bien tambi茅n 驴C贸mo luchamos contra eso? 驴C贸mo nos unimos todos?"

"The work to fight against corruption is what we're here to discuss and is what matters, rather than describing [corruption]. Let鈥檚 not spend our time describing the disease, let鈥檚 look for medicine to fight that disease. Because we are going on 200 years of trying to describe corruption and hold debates and forums about it. Yes, the diagnosis is good. The factors are right. But it鈥檚 fine to ask as well, 'How do we fight against corruption?' 'How do we all come together?'"

"Vale la pena la paz que hemos logrado en Colombia, porque en un hospital militar central llegaban 3,200 heridos al a帽o, llegaron a tener este a帽o han llegado tres. Vale la pena la paz. Pero, hay un tema que todav铆a vale la pena mucho m谩s, que es lo que est谩 circulando en Colombia, y la frase notable que est谩n haciendo hoy, que el silencio de los fusiles de las FARC deja o铆r por fin el estruendo de la corrupci贸n en Colombia, y solo por eso vale la pena haber hecho la paz."

"The peace that we have achieved in Colombia is worth it because, in a central military hospital that attended to 3,200 wounded a year, this year [only] three came. Peace is worth it. But there is an issue that is still worth much more and that is what is circulating in Colombia, the remarkable phrase that they are crafting today: The silence of the FARC鈥檚 rifles have finally allowed us to hear the roar of corruption in Colombia. For that alone, it is worth it to have made peace."

"Este es un tema integral: poder judicial, poder ejecutivo, poder legislativo. Nosotros los 贸rganos de control鈥� somos totalmente aut贸nomos e independientes. No tenemos jefe, porque all谩 el que tiene jefe tiene due帽o, que es un tema muy com煤n del sur del Rio Grande hasta la Patagonia鈥� Escojan pa铆s de Centroam茅rica, escojan pa铆s de Suram茅rica, que es igual el tema."

"This is a crucial issue: judicial power, executive power, legislative power. We, the supervisory bodies鈥� are totally independent and autonomous. We do not have a boss, because down there whoever has a boss has an owner 鈥� which is a very common issue from the south of the Rio Grande to Patagonia... Choose any country from Central America or South America 鈥� they have the same issue."

"El partido m谩s fuerte que hay, desde el sur del Rio Grande hasta la Patagonia, no son los 2,000 o 1,500 que han creado. No, el partido de los contratistas, porque ellos van a invertir dineros para recuperar esos dineros."

"The strongest party there is, from the south of the Rio Grande to Patagonia, is not the 1,500 or 2,000 that have been created. No, it is the party of the contractors, because they will invest money to recover these monies."

"Ni todos somos corruptos, ni todo es corrupci贸n en Colombia."

"We are not all corrupt, nor is everything about corruption in Colombia."