The two largest economies in the region, US and Brazil, are key countries to watch and monitor moving forward due to the influence they play in the region and around the world.

With a score of 71, the US, dropped four points since last year to earn its lowest score on the CPI in seven years. The country is currently witnessing threats to its system of checks and balances, as well as an erosion of ethical norms at the highest levels of power.

The low score comes at a time of growing nativist populist sentiment, a rise in hate crimes, trenchant political polarisation and the longest government shutdown in US history. All of these factors combined only exacerbate the loss of public trust in America’s foundational institutions.

With a score of 35, Brazil, dropped two points since last year to also earn its lowest CPI score in seven years. Similar to the US, Brazil has recently seen a rise in populism.

Previous anti-corruption efforts helped bring corrupt individuals from across political parties and the private sector to justice. In 2014, the Lava Jato operation, which involved a network of more than 20 corporations, including the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, has since grown into one of the largest money laundering cases worldwide. To date, it involves more than US$788 million dollars across nine countries in Latin America and others overseas, reaching as far as Angola and Mozambique.

While highlighting an extreme degree of abuse and corruption in many of Brazil’s institutions, it also revealed a growing cynicism and sense of hopelessness among citizens. With several powerful leaders implicated in the scandal, the bar for opposition candidates was set fairly low.

Capitalising on this environment, President Bolsonaro rose to power with promises to end corruption. The president made it clear that he will rule with a strong hand, favouring highly populist language that threatens many of the democratic milestones achieved by the country.

Our local chapter, Transparency International Brazil (TI-Brazil), has developed a mega-package of 70 measures for a new anti-corruption agenda that respect the rule of law and human rights.

Including input from several partners in the public and private sectors, the anti-corruption package includes proposals for institutional reforms, draft bills, constitutional amendments, draft resolutions and other rules to control corruption and tackle its systemic roots. TI-Brazil will seek to persuade the Bolsonaro administration to adopt these recommendations when creating an anti-corruption strategy.