Travel for Pennies

One of the things that is known about the country of Bolivia, one of the things that has been detrimental to the societies in the country, as well as in societies throughout the world has been the cocaine production and trafficking.  The drug made from the coca leaf, is used throughout the country for medicinal purposes and religious ceremonies.  But the drug has been a favorite for recreational users through time and over history.  This has caused problems.  But the country seems to be steeped in a tradition of corruption, which is evident in other instances, from the public to the private sector.  Anti-corruption agencies from the United States and around the world have been attempting to curtail this for some time.

One of the most corrupted institutions is the health care system, the Caja Nacional de Salud or, CNS.  An audit of insurance agencies was carried out, and it is reported that in almost have of the regions that are covered by the policies of the CNS, in cities such as Santa Cruz,Tarija, Cochabamba, and La Paz, there have been three hundred and eighty three cases of corruption in the form of nepotism and preferential treatment.   In La Paz alone, the capital city of Bolivia, there are more than two hundred cases of irregularities and nepotism.

The families of the employees are getting treated before any others in the community and/or are being given jobs with the company, and the cases involve members at the highest levels of the management.  The president of the company himself, Jose Carreon has 2 brothers who are employed at the agency.  Nepotism in the work place has always been an issue.  And it may be difficult to deal with as the ideas and social mores differ from country to country.  Just as some countries see various forms of bribery as simply doing favors, so do some see taking care of one’s own as a natural and ethical way of life, and way to conduct business.  When it occurs at the expense of other people’s livelihood, that is when it moves past the simple giving and receiving of ‘favors’ and into the realm of corruption.

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Tags: anti-corruption, Bolivia, Caja Nacional de Salud

Enforcement agencies and financial institutions around the world are making the fight against terrorist financing the top priority. Included is the inter-woven fights against money laundering, drug trafficking, embezzlement and fraud. This has become an international quest, to protect not only the citizens of every country, but the integrity of the financial systems of the world as well. The ultimate goal is to completely cut off available resources of terrorists, and to make it more difficult for terrorists to find ways to fund their destructive enterprises and to ensure that criminals pay for their crimes, instead of getting paid for them. The consequences for not attempting and succeeding in the abolition of terrorist funding and money laundering are consequences that affect the international financial systems, their integrity and stability, as well as the safety of the entire human race.

These activities present problems in societies worldwide. These criminals take advantage of the countries with ineffective or weak controls and they exploit the laws and systems by conducting transactions in various jurisdictions concurrently. The longer a country waits to address the issues of money laundering, the more entrenched the criminal element becomes in their society. This not only affects the banking of a particular country, but has detrimental effects on the over-all economy, as foreign businesses and investors will stay away from those countries, so as to not become involved in potential criminal activity or scandal.

In 1989, a task force was established in Paris, during a G-7 Summit. This is the Financial Action Task Force which focuses on the battle against money laundering, and includes members of the governments of thirty four different countries. The task force had the responsibility of creating a standard for worldwide practices and policies. They work together with the United Nations, the World Bank, and the IMF. This coordination of the different agencies, and the coordination of the various countries of the world, is the only way the international corruption can be addressed and will ensure to further the fight towards the end of terrorism and international crimes in the financial realm as well as in the societal realm.

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Tags: Against Terrorist Financing, Financial Action Task Force, International Fight, terrorist financing, United Nations