How Does the World See Latin America?

The debate continues over whether Latin America and the Caribbean have made progress on corruption and transparency in recent years. Clearly the region still struggles with the public perception that it is a difficult or dangerous place to do business in. Every year, the U.K.-based consultancy, Maplecroft, publishes indices that measure corruption, transparency, compliance with human rights and the rule of law. The firm pools together data ranging from killing and torture, to child labor and women’s rights, to freedom of association and the press, among other measures, and maps the risk.

The maps show the disparity within the region (click on the image below download and view the maps). Moreover, they give some insight into how the rest of the world perceives Latin America and the Caribbean. Alyson Warhurst, Maplecroft’s founding director of social enterprise, believes there is a worldwide movement towards greater accountability to corporate stakeholders — which could be consumers and employees as well as owners and investors — and where a company does business factors heavily into its corporate image. “Companies know that reputation is more important than ever,” Warhurst said.