Corruption perception and the accountability gap

In Colombia the Odebrecht case produced partial convictions but did not reach the political leadership. Over the 'Ruta del Sol 2' contract, the former deputy transport minister (5 years), former senator Otto Bula (5.5 years), Corficolombiana CEO José Elías Melo (11 years), and former senators Bernardo Elías and Antonio Guerra de la Espriella (14 and 13 years) were convicted. Former president Juan Manuel Santos was investigated for campaign financing but not criminally charged. The gap here is vertical: operators and legislators fell, not the apex of power.

The Dominican Republic illustrates the judicial-reversal gap. In the Odebrecht case, two defendants were convicted in October 2021 and the conviction was upheld by an appeals court in May 2023. But in August 2024 the Supreme Court of Justice vacated the decision and declared the defendants innocent. It is the regional pattern: the scandal is denounced, there is a first-instance conviction, and the higher court reverses it. Paradoxically, the country was one of only two that improved significantly in the CPI 2025 for the Americas.

Brazil shows the most dramatic reverse gap: the scandal was born here and here it is being dismantled. Operation Lava Jato jailed figures like Marcelo Odebrecht (19 years) and recovered billions in fines. But Supreme Federal Court rulings, led by Justice Dias Toffoli, suspended over 100 cases tied to Odebrecht confessions and annulled the leniency-agreement evidence over alleged procedural flaws. Transparency International Brazil called the country a 'cemetery of evidence' for the Odebrecht case. A suspended fine of R$8.5 billion remains unresolved. The conviction existed; accountability is being reversed.

Peru has the most firm convictions stemming from the Odebrecht/Lava Jato case. Former president Alejandro Toledo was sentenced in October 2024 to 20 years and 6 months for receiving $35 million in bribes. Former president Ollanta Humala and his wife Nadine Heredia were sentenced in April 2025 to 15 years each for laundering campaign funds. Four former presidents have been implicated in total. It is the regional exception: here the scandal did reach conviction, though it took nearly a decade.