MEXICO.- According to research and data published in her book, Anatomía de la Corrupción, María Amparo Casar, a political analyst from the Center for Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE), mentions that Mexico scored 35 points out of 100 regarding its perception of corruption, placing it on number 103 of the 175 countries on its index.

With 71% of the population thinking that corruption is a serious problem, while the other 52% thinks this situation has increased in the last two years, it's no surprise that 91% of Mexicans assure that corruption comes as something normal for their political parties as well as for their policemen.

Every eight out of ten citizens have suffered some kind of fraud over the past year, whether it is to get some paperwork done faster, to get a permit or even just to get a license. "It's not about eliminating inspections or control mechanisms, but about developing mechanisms that prevent the use of them for extorsion," said Casar.

Corruption is not something that comes cheap, according to data from the World Bank, corruption in Mexico is equivalent to 9% of Gross Domestic Product and 80% of tax collection.

"Mexicans need to understand that corruption can be profitable for short term benefits, but once you add in its cost, this overrules said benefits."

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zyanya.figueroa@sandiegored.com