Politics
Venezuela is one of the world's most corrupt countries and the worst in Latin America after being ranked 162nd. By contrast, Chile and Uruguay are considered role models, since both are ranked 25th, followed by Costa Rica (43rd) and Cuba (61st), according to the annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), released by Transparency International on Tuesday.

New Zealand, Denmark and Singapore top the list of the most transparent countries in the world according to the report, which measures the perceived level of public-sector corruption in 180 countries and is based on 13 different expert and business surveys conducted by 10 independent organizations.

Since 1955, the global civil society organization publishes annually an index of perception of corruption ranging from a score of "10," for a country perceived as "transparent," to "0" for one seen as "corrupt," AFP reported. Venezuela scored 1.9.

The NGO stressed the need to do more to fight corruption at a time when governments seek to revive the economy by injecting a huge volume of public sector capital on programs to boost economic growth.