Good news? Latin American corruption scandals and the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic generated a multi-dimensional crisis in Latin America. Among other consequences, the pandemic created opportunities for corruption to flourish. Yet, although the urgency to acquire ventilators, PPE, and other medical supplies was universal and opened up corrupt opportunities, there was significant variation in the number of corruption-related news items across countries. This chapter explores the role of transparency and civil-oversight institutions in affecting the number of corruption-related news items in 36 Latin American and Caribbean countries in 2020, using 2015¿2019 as a baseline for the comparison. The regression analysis is complemented with qualitative analyses of a series of COVID-19-related corruption scandals in the region. Greater transparency, press freedom, and civil-society engagement made these scandals possible. Yet, although more transparency did seem to produce a stronger response from the media in reporting on COVID-19-related corruption, oversight alone had little impact. Scandals are a symptom of corruption, but also of institutional strength that gives the media a role in exposing malfeasance, a necessary step toward greater accountability. © 2024 Taylor & Francis.