Rampant corruption is eroding voter confidence in Argentina and Mexico, whose leaders ran on anti-graft campaigns.
Argentinaās President Javier Milei and his Mexican counterpart Claudia Sheinbaum vowed to fight corruption, but voters in both countries now say it is their main concern after several scandals. The pattern is repeated across much of the continent: The Inter-American Development Bank has put the annual cost of corruption in Latin America at around $220 billion, roughly equivalent to the entire GDP of Peru, the regionās sixth-biggest economy.
Graft also hollows out basic public services, leaving schools and hospitals short of essential supplies. āCorruption harms the poor and vulnerable the most,ā the World Bank said.
