Category: corruption

‘Networks of impunity’ for kleptocrats’ malign activities

     

Kleptocrats regularly exploit Europe’s financial system, according to a new report. In the decade since the global financial crisis, dozens of money laundering schemes linked to corrupt, abusive regimes have come… Read more »

‘Eerie Endgame of Modern Politics’: Venezuela shows where illiberalism ends

     

  Venezuela’s regime is consolidating control, and prospects for a peaceful transition appear increasingly bleak, notes Eric Farnsworth, VP of the Americas Society/Council of the Americas. The support of Cuba, Russia,… Read more »

Crude Intentions: How oil corruption fuels kleptocracy

     

Billions of dollars stolen from citizens are circling the globe, enriching powerful individuals, altering political outcomes, and disadvantaging everyday people, notes Alexandra Gillies, an advisor at the Natural Resource Governance Institute…. Read more »

Does Zelensky want to break oligarchs’ grip on Ukraine?

     

If Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky fails to rein in the oligarchs and rampant judicial corruption, his reforms will sputter and Ukraine will lose its best chance in decades to escape… Read more »

Venezuela’s endgame ‘closer than Maduro thinks’?

     

  Cuban security officials are a critical ingredient of Nicolas Maduro’s ability to retain power. So, as the Trump administration increases pressure on Venezuela’s pretender president, it must also do the same against… Read more »

From Colonization to Kleptocracy: ‘Luanda Leaks’ detail Angola corruption

     

A trove of more than 700,000 documents obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, and shared with The New York Times, shows how a global network of consultants, lawyers, bankers and… Read more »

Kremlin kleptocracy’s lawfare undermining rule of law

     

  The scale of Russian interference in the English judiciary is such that it now constitutes a “critical national security threat” according to a prominent British lawyer. The observation by… Read more »

Ukraine poised for a strong 2020: Is Zelensky succeeding?

     

Despite the fact that he took office as an utter political neophyte in one of Europe’s most dysfunctional nations, Volodymyr Zelensky’s government so far has been an extraordinary — and,… Read more »

‘Zero Corruption’: feasible or fantasy?

     

A court in Bishkek has ruled to freeze the bank accounts of RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service, locally known as Azattyk, its correspondent, and the Kyrgyz news site Kloop following their joint… Read more »

International Anti-Corruption Day: How graft erodes democracy and the rule of law

     

We should not be surprised at the increased distance between citizens and democratic institutions given the prevalence of corruption, observers suggest. “In too many countries we are witnessing corruption or… Read more »