http://www.americasquarterly.org/content/no-more-odebrechts-three-steps-reduce-graft-latin-america
The revelations of years of immense and systemic bribe payments to policymakers across Latin America by engineering and construction conglomerate Odebrecht are an unmitigated disaster for Brazil – and its foreign policy of the last decade and a half.
The internationalization of Brazilian capitalism – that is, the government’s strategy of boosting Brazil’s influence by supporting the activities of its large companies abroad – was a key pillar of regional foreign policy starting in the mid-2000s. This policy allowed Brazil not only to achieve unprecedented visibility and access from Buenos Aires to Panama City, but also to establish a powerful narrative about its benign, stabilizing and modernizing impact abroad. Yet even at this early stage of investigations, it has become clear that through its companies, Brazil also promoted bad governance and corruption in a region where rule of law is far from consolidated. The affair is a body blow to Brazil’s regional reputation and leadership ambitions, already weakened due to its economic and political crisis.
Yet, the crisis also presents a golden opportunity to ensure that the investigation was not a fluke – and that the rule of law is spreading. In that context, regional cooperation to combat organized crime and corruption – probably Latin America’s greatest challenge today – will be essential. Three strategies come to mind:
1) Latin American governments should make fighting corruption a centerpiece of their foreign policies, by helping public prosecutors, anti-corruption task forces of the federal police and judges gain their own institutionalized platforms and channels of communication. Creating joint task forces will facilitate the sharing of information and specialized training, particularly in countries where these structures are underdeveloped or not politically independent. In the case of the Odebrecht investigation, this is already happening: Peruvian public prosecutors are in close contact with the Lava Jato corruption investigation team in Curitiba, Brazil. Hamilton Castro, a Peruvian prosecutor, has recently opened investigations into Camargo Corrêa, another Brazilian construction firm.
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Photo credit: Marcello Casal Jr/Agência Brasil
