Sh! Why must we be so loud about corruption?

In the past, statistics have indicated an extremely high suicide rate in Sweden, while comparable figures show a very low suicided rate in Mexico implied a very low rate. I heard that this was due to the fact that in Sweden suicide was more socially acceptable, and when people kill themselves, authorities register the deaths as suicide.

But in Mexico, the theory went, suicides were registered as “death by other causes” because suicides had social stigmas attached to them.

I don’t really know if this explanation was correct or not, but it comes to mind every time I see rankings comparing corrupt countries to squeaky clean ones.

Obviously there is corruption in Venezuela - and with a vengeance. There is material corruption, which involves payment of all types of commissions, And there is less tangible corruption, the kind that inspires government officials to appoint inept people to important public posts. 

(By the way, the latter is usually much worse in the long-run than the former. When a motorist pays a “tangible” commission to an officer in order to shorten a discussion about traffic violations, it costs about $4. may cost somewhere around four dollars. I don’t even want to begin calculate the cost of the intangible corruption!)

It is difficult for me to understand how Venezuela always manages to occupy such prominent positions among the most corrupt nations. We are not angels, but I don’t think we can look at this situation in terms of night-and-day, black-and-white situation that places corrupt nations in one corner and non-corrupt countries in another.

In my office hangs a framed copy of a fax sent in 1990 to a Venezuelan exporter informing him that some samples sent by him to a European city renowned for its law and order on a European airline had arrived and had been stored in another European airline’s warehouses. Unfortunately they had then been stolen. Our exporter was asked to send more samples, this time unmarked and in plain brown wrapping, since it was otherwise difficult to guarantee the shipment’s safety

This is, by the way, no joke.

It is also difficult for me to understand the fervor with which most of my compatriots assure us of the omnipresent existence of corruption. Of course it exists, but how bad is it really? And if it is so bad, should Venezuelans be so loud about it? When a maiden loses her virginity, should she run around and tell everyone about her condition? Probably not – such admission would probably attract the attention of other not-so-well-intentioned suitors. 

I recall having a conversation with a European exporter who (in a fit of laudable sincerity) explained that in his town’s train station, thieves absconded with one-sixth of his merchandise and at his country’s seaport, another sixth disappeared. Naturally, upon arrival at La Guaira, a further sixth was “found missing. He then came to the conclusion that the difference between a developed country, such as his, and an underdeveloped country, such as mine, was that mine (i.e. La Guaira) was blamed for the loss of each one-sixth-portion. 

During all of this soul-searching about corruption in Venezuela, I have managed to develop several hypotheses. The first is the one I call the “Geraldo and Cristina Hypothesis”. If you ever seen these talk-shows you see that each guest is afflicted with some type of grossly exaggerated malady. Under this theory, I liken some Venezuelans to these talk-show guests because they see determined to call attention to their maladies.

Who knows why. Maybe they want to enhance their market value on the talk-show circuit.

The second theory says that, by yelling “corruption has invaded everything”, Venezuelans are actually saying, it cannot be eradicated by normal means. It’s similar to an advanced stage of cancer. There comes a point when the cancer is so bad, not even chemotherapy can help. At this point, radical surgery is the only answer.

Perhaps I am offering these thoughts to ventilate my personal anguish about corruption, and the fact that it is affecting the future prosperity of our country.

In the meantime, before I can find evidence of a true reform efforts, I will continue to maintain, before my children (in order to safeguard the illusion each youngster should have of his country) that the commissioner for anti-corruption has not been able to do anything because there is an absence of corruption.