Corruption Issues in Colombia Analysis Essay

Indian Culture (Punjab)
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Corruption Issues in Colombia
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Corruption Issues in Colombia
Introduction
Corruption is of the primary social ills facing many countries globally. It is a core concern gaining attention in many countries. The understanding of corruption is diverse and equally diverse. It presents itself in many forms, including abuse of public offices for personal benefits, abuse of power. Corruption is considered one of the main governance problems in current times. Corruption is usually defined as the abuse of power for private gain. Still, it is important to note that power can refer to public and private actors and positions. There are many definitions and behaviors included under the general term and no actual consensus on its precise meaning (Heywood, 2015).
Corruption comes with far-reaching implications, including loss of trust, weakening democracy, hampered economic growth and development, worsening inequalities and inequities, increasing poverty levels, widening social divisions, and increasing environmental challenges. Fighting corruption is not an easy task for individuals, institutions, and governments. Columbia is one of the countries grappling with corruption that has continued to threaten its economic and socio-economic growth and development. Corruption in Columbia is deeply entrenched in its culture, socio-economic, and political system.  The current Columbia government is trying to comprehend the repercussions of high corruption and is taking major measures to counteract the problem. Unfortunately, corruption has already been engraved and normalized within most systems, and principles and values that could inspire honesty and transparency are severely absent amongst the majority of the populace.
Background of Corruption in Columbia
Colombia is a presidential democratic republic. It gained independence from Spain in 1819.it has existed as a privileged two-party system, marked with relative economic stability was reached. However, the justice system has undergone a lot of infringement and violations. The Columbian society is marked by glaring inequalities, where few people hold majority wealth. There have been no effective reforms that could have addressed such wealth disparities. As a result, there have been conflicts and contestations among opposing groups. The contestations led to a prolonged revolutionary armed struggle in South America, where the Left-wing guerrillas have operated now for over more than six decades in Colombia. In the 1970s, they were counteracted by security forces and paramilitary groups funded by landlords and other economic interests, and this war deepened the rise of the drug cartels between the 1970s and the end of the 1990s. This conflict, marked by the emergence of cartels and specific interest groups, created more opportunities for corruption and other inhuman acts like killings. All these happening were enabled by a weak justice system that cartels could easily corrupt.
Corruption is a critical challenge in Columbia. It is a problem that permeates diverse components of the Colombian economy. The high presence of corruptive practices in the public and the private system creates a substantial impediment to transparency, accountability, and efficient administration for the nation's general good. Most Columbia fraudulent and corrupt practices come in bribery, extortion, foreign briberies, and gifts to facilitate payments and because of office. There is a need for a public discussion on corruption in Colombia. Transparency International confirms that Colombia is a highly corrupt country with a scale of transparency standing at 3.4 on a scale of transparency from 0 to 10 (Angel & Bates, 2014) .corruption emerged in diverse spheres such as land, health, military forces, and public administration. Transparency International’s 2012 Corruption Perception Index ranks Colombia 94th out of the 176 countries with a score of 36 on a scale of 0 – 100, where 0 means that a country is perceived as highly corrupt and 100 means that a country is perceived as most transparent. Despite the armed conflict, Colombia’s score in 2012 was par with its neighbor's countries, including Panama, Peru and Ecuador. The most corrupt institutions in Columbia include political parties and the parliament, police, public officials, the judiciary and the military.
The Columbian wave o corruption is historical. Corruption practices in Columbia are robustly embroiled in a web of politics and judicial systems deeply rooted in colonial outcomes of the Spanish conquest. The Spanish Empire possessed a disorganized and corrupt bureaucracy, which might have been transmitted to its colonies, including Colombia. The first courts established by the Spaniards in America were corrupt and ineffective. Colombia acquired inadequate and legal systems with no trust, honesty, accountability, nor transparency. These improper systems failed to guarantee private property rights to promote economic investment. One of the primary strategies colonial elites could gain benefits, power and wealth involved occupying essential positions in the colony's judicial bureaucracy.
Colombia is considered a middle-level development and a middle-low level of transparency. It has high inequality and violence levels. According to the World Bank (2019), Columbia is a middle-income country. On a broader definition of development, UNDP places Colombia in the 90th position among 180 countries in the Human Development Index (UNDP, 2019).
In the early- to mid-1990s and up to today, international organizations and the Colombian government-supported activities, policies, frameworks, programs and laws intended to reduce corruption (Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, 2011). Although corruption has declined in Colombia, it continues to pose significant grave challenges to the Columbian people and government. For example, 41 candidates in municipal elections were murdered in the months before the October 2011 elections (Langbein & Sanabria, 2013). These murders were associated with corruption were prominent. Allegations s of corruption in public services are prevalent where they are entrenched relation with the illegal activities of drug traffickers, guerrillas, and paramilitary groups, which have shaped vital cooptation processes in the Colombian state (Gonzalez & Jenny2012).
Columbia’s Development Index and the Impact of Corruption
Even though Columbia has taken feasible strategies to tackle corruptions and its already actualizing desibsle outcomes, corruption still impacts its core indexes of performance. Colombian government data shows that it losses an estimated US $6,100, which is about one % of its GDP9 (AlArcón lóPEz, 2014)
Corruption has had a far-reaching implication on Columbia in diverse spheres of human development and growth. Corruption in Colombia has grossly reduced its GDP. The economic cost of corruption has its worse significance on economic development and growth. There is also a remarkable loss of thrust and credibility among Columbian leaders, politicians and the government. The citizens are equally demoralized with the government with its leaders, leading to an increasing lack of interest in political participation.