Politics
The 13th biennial International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC), organized by Transparency International (TI), ended on Sunday in Athens with a call on countries to boost cooperation between governments and civil society to eradicate corruption.

One of the conclusions of the meeting, which was attended by over 1,300 experts from 135 countries, was related to Central America and the Caribbean, whose presidents signed a protocol in the previous conference (2006), held in Guatemala, with the goal of harmonizing regional laws and policies against corruption until 2010, EFE reported. 

The perception of corruption in Latin America is one of the highest in the world, only surpassed by some African countries. Alejandro Salas, director general of the Americas Department of TI, stressed the problems caused by the irregular financing of political parties in the region.

According to the Corruption Perception Index 2008, the countries with the highest perceived levels of corruption in Latin America are Haiti, Venezuela and Ecuador.