Andres Oppenheimer: Latin America’s top problem is corruption

Corruption is systemic to humans across the board and an extremely complex beast to tackle because you cannot really hope to control it through simple processes.
Laws are in place but that has an extremely limited effect.
In my view, the best way to approach it is by
1) clear far ranging laws defining it
2) freedom of information acts
3) laws allowing private citizens to pursue accusations against private and public officials including police and judges and members of the national assembly.
4) independent bodies able to bring cases in front of the courts
5) 0 tolerance for public sector

I have found that here, in CR, it is extremely difficult to function within the framework as the framework and bureaucratic culture is setup in such a way that the end client is usually unable to climb the chain of command in order to have his rights respected even though there may be laws there to protect him in the first place.
Most Ticos with whom i have discussed this, including lawyers, believe that you cannot circumnavigate the obstacles in the system without bribing or otherwise cheating and that is, in my view, a significant part of the problem.
Lastly, the sheer cost of a complex bureaucracy is onerous and probably the most important issue facing workable solutions.
Costa Rica has an excellent sociopolitical perspective from the top and while we seem to only hear the cynics (much nicer words than they deserve), there is a genuine care and effort to bring social justice while trying not to be heavy handed.
What we need to do is promote good ideas and support the efforts of those who do.