GOG: Mixed Results on Transparency

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 001204 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EFIN ETRD EAID PGOV GT SUBJECT: GOG: Mixed Results on Transparency ¶1. SUMMARY: NGOs and private sector leaders have complained that access to public information declined significantly during the Colom administration. They point to lack of executive leadership, its failure to implement the 2005 presidential decree, the cancellation of a Berger-era (2003-2007) e-government system (SIGOB, which allowed citizens to monitor progress of GOG goals online),declining usage of Guatecompras, the GOG's transparent procurement system and the slow implementation of the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL). GOG officials counter that the passage of the Freedom of Information Law and the creation of a Vice Ministry for Transparency within the Ministry of Finance are evidence of GOG commitment to transparency. END SUMMARY Decreased Access to Public Information ¶2. According to a report on access to information carried out by "Accion Ciudadana," the Guatemalan Chapter of Transparency International, public access to government information in Guatemala has decreased since 2006. The report shows that only four out of ten requests for public information were accepted without requiring personal identification or additional explanations (contrary to the requirements of the FOIL),and it mentions that only three FOIA requests in ten receive a response. The report also shows declining transparency in the various institutions studied (executive, judicial, Congress, and municipalities). ¶3. Accion Ciudadana questioned the GOG's commitment to transparency due to its failure to enforce existing measures designed to increase transparency and accountability. The Colom administration failed to enforce a 2005 decree (General Rules to Access Public Information in the Executive Branch and its Entities) requiring public institutions to present annual accountability reports, and to respond to inquiries for public information within 20 days of the request. It also detailed what type of information had to be included in the official websites. ¶4. NGOs and private sector leaders have also complained that the Social Cohesion Council (which oversees a number of First Lady Sandra Torres' social programs) has been unwilling to provide sufficient information on beneficiaries of its flagship conditional cash transfer program, My Family Progress, to members of Congress. In a January 2009 decision, Guatemala's Constitutional Court ordered the Social Cohesion Council to provide information on beneficiaries to auditing entities, such as Congress and the Comptroller General's Office. Despite the ruling, the government has not yet provided information to Congress. The Colom Administration went further, noting that information on beneficiaries for the other social assistance programs "Bolsa Solidaria" (Food Assistance Program) and "Escuelas Abiertas" (open schools during weekends) would also be treated as confidential. No challenges to the Government's failure to comply with the Constitutional Court ruling have yet been filed. Significant declines in e-government systems ¶5. Accion Ciudadana's study found that e-government systems designed to increase transparency have shown significant declines in usage. For example, the Colom Administration cancelled the highly-regarded Presidential System for Measuring Program Results (SIGOB),which allowed citizens to monitor progress of GOG goals online and sort the impact of government programs by department and municipality. Also, the web-based government procurement system, Guatecompras, has seen significant declines in usage. Guatecompras was implemented in 2003 and law requires all government purchases over Q30,000 ($3,600) to be published on its website. According to the GOG's own Ministry of Finance records, use of the system decreased by 45 percent from 2006 to 2008 as the amount of resources that were channeled through Guatecompras declined from Q19.2 billion ($2.3 billion) to Q10.6 billion (Q1.26 billion) during that period. Municipalities have been the public entities that have most frequently avoided the use of the system. ¶6. Marvin Flores, Accion Ciudadana's expert on transparency and Government Procurement issues, noted that the legal framework mandating the use of Guatecompras has been strengthened, but loopholes have enabled public entities to find new ways to evade using the system. For example, government entities can channel spending through quasi-governmental or non-governmental entities such as trust funds, NGOs, and international organizations. These entities have less robust transparency and accountability rules and spending through these entities has increased over the past two years. Officers of these parallel spending structures are not employed by the GOG and therefore not subject to anti-corruption laws. Proposed reforms to trust fund rules would mandate spending through trust funds be conducted through Guatecompras. If enacted, this would increase transparency in trust funds. Freedom of Information Law bright spot ¶7. After years of negotiations, the Freedom of Information Law was approved by Congress in September 2008 and entered into force in April 2009. The law, if enforced, could be an important tool to improve transparency in public entities and eliminate corruption. Article 10 of the law requires public entities to post basic information, such as names and salaries of public officials and information on public contracts and procurement, on their websites. In addition to this information, executive branch agencies are required to post information on budget spending, advisors and travel expenses. Per Article 19, all public entities (including at the departmental and municipal levels) are required to create information units to process requests from the public. ¶8. A recent random check carried out by Accion Ciudadana of 37 national-level public entities revealed that some have not yet complied with the law. Eight of those entities had not created the information units required by law and 19 had not published the names and salaries of their workers. Among the entities that had not complied with the law are the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Agriculture. However, the report noted full compliance by the Ministry of Finance, the Guatemalan Central Bank, and the Social Security Institute. ¶9. Accion Ciudadana also carried out a random check of 22 municipalities, and found that none had published basic financial information as required by the Freedom of Information Law. However, 14 had taken initial steps to create the information units as required by Article 19. David Gaitan, Accion Ciudadana's expert on the FOIL, underscored that whatever its drawbacks, the free access to information law complies with international standards and is a concrete step forward in improving transparency. He added that implementation, though slow, was not substantially worse than implementation of similar laws in other developing countries. GOG Ministry of Finance lonely champion of transparency ¶10. In public and private statements, most GOG officials rarely comment on the transparency beyond platitudes on the need to make government more transparent. The one exception is the Ministry of Finance (MOF) where transparency seems to be a genuine priority. Ministry officials frequently discuss the need for greater and more open exchange of information flows on spending both with the public and between ministries. To further this goal, in 2008, the MOF created a new vice-ministry charged with overseeing transparency in government spending. A recently arrived resident treasury advisor, Jim Carpenter, has been charged with improving transparency in the budget formulation process as one of his principal tasks. Former Vice Minister of Finance Carlos Barreda commented to Econoff that transparency is important to the MOF since opaque and confusing budget and spending methodology perpetuates both actual and perceived corruption in Guatemala. This is a major impediment to passing legislation badly needed to raise taxes and improve collections in Guatemala. Since tax reform is the top priority of the MOF, so is transparency. ¶11. COMMENT: Except at the Ministry of Finance, transparency does not appear to be a top administration priority. First Lady Sandra Torres de Colom has created bureaucratic structures, particularly through trust funds, to shield the high-profile Social Cohesion Council social programs from transparency efforts. Without strong leadership and pressure from the presidency, ministries and mid-level bureaucrats have less incentive to use Guatecompras rather than a parallel structure that provides individual procurement officers more flexibility in contracting. Improvement in transparency could come from executive leadership, but is more likely to come from public pressure, particularly from NGOs such as Accion Ciudadana. These entities can mobilize the press and pressure the courts to enforce rulings on transparency and press for full implementation and compliance with the Freedom of Information Law. Such pressure has not yet materialized. Robinson