New platform attracts on investigative journalism to establish cross-border patterns of corruption

From protecting bribery schemes to the misuse of public funds, investigative journalism in Latin America typically entails deep dives into corruption.

Now, a brand new platform spearheaded by ICIJ member Milagros Salazar, goals to assist journalists, lecturers and public officers join the dots of corruption instances throughout borders. Salazar, the director of Peru-based investigative journalism middle and ICIJ media associate Convoca launched Observatorio Transfronterizo de la Corrupción — the Cross-border Corruption Observatory — in December.

The anti-corruption challenge, which was within the works for months, features a database that enables customers to look latest investigations by Convoca and over a dozen media companions, permitting them to investigate by nation and matter space.

Salazar launched the Observatorio with a sequence of digital workshops the place investigative journalists, prosecutors, attorneys, human rights consultants and civic leaders shared instruments, concepts and challenges of investigating corruption. To guide the workshops, Salazar tapped Gabriela Flores, a journalist specializing in investigations into state seize, human rights violations and the influence of corruption on residents’ rights. Collectively, they led three panels: one on corruption patterns and strategies; one on the intersection of corruption, organized crime, and cash laundering; and a 3rd on the authorized frameworks that allow corruption.

“From the beginning, we needed to create an area the place authorities, civil society consultants, and journalists may alternate views in a extra dynamic and fluid means,” Flores stated.

ICIJ spoke to Milagros Salazar and Gabriela Flores to be taught in regards to the new platform, their panels and what the challenge could imply for tackling corruption sooner or later.

The next interview has been translated from Spanish and edited for brevity and readability.

What impressed you to create a searchable database for this challenge?

Milagros: We had the same initiative with Investiga Lava Jato. Investiga Lava Jato was a cross-border challenge we began in Convoca in 2016. It’s a web site the place we gathered all info associated to the case, [a sprawling cash-for-contracts scheme orchestrated by Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht in countries across Latin America and Africa that was dubbed Operation Lava Jato]. Later, we determined to arrange that information right into a searchable system filtered by fee kind, challenge, firm, or nation. We noticed that utilizing key phrases and categorizing by nation and matter labored effectively. We determined to take what labored there and apply it right here. That is the results of an extended course of that started with small seeds and grew organically.

Whenever you put all this info collectively, what patterns emerged that caught your consideration? 

Milagros: The very first thing we seen when organizing the experiences was how clearly the subjects might be grouped. The working teams we shaped weren’t random — they mirrored recurring patterns we discovered within the investigations. It was a sort of reflection: We now have all this documented, what will we see now? How will we group it?

How did you persuade the authorities to take part within the workshops? Has this been executed earlier than?

Gabriela: We introduced the invitation as a dialogue house. We needed to assemble their experience as prosecutors and authorities to establish patterns and suggest enhancements. We have been cautious in deciding on authorities with sturdy backgrounds in preventing corruption.

Milagros: Truthfully, I haven’t seen this earlier than. Usually, prosecutors or attorneys react to media strain, like investigating a president or politician. However they not often get the possibility to mirror on patterns, modus operandi, or worldwide cooperations they may set up.

Within the Lava Jato case in Peru, worldwide cooperation labored effectively as a result of Brazilian and Peruvian prosecutors shaped a casual relationship that accelerated the processes. However that’s not the norm; political will and clear cooperation mechanisms are sometimes missing.

What suggestions did you get, and what classes did you be taught as journalists?

Gabriela: The authorities felt snug, which allowed them to freely share their experiences and hear extra overtly. This helped them understand they’re not preventing corruption alone, that the patterns they examine are repeated in different international locations, and that networks will be constructed.

The alternate was enriching for us, too. It made us rethink our approaches. For instance, it modified how we understand corruption. Earlier than, we noticed it as a bootleg alternate of cash, however right here we realized to see it as a broader phenomenon, with each authorized and unlawful actors typically working collectively with out direct financial exchanges.

Milagros: Sure, an essential level is the alternate of favors. We frequently consider corruption as a financial bribe, however it could additionally present up as hiring a relative or oblique advantages. Corruption isn’t all the time seen as offshore funds; it may be in small gestures that consolidate networks of impunity.

What tales or teams of tales did you come throughout that made you say, “This needs to be a roundtable matter”?

Milagros: For instance, [for the panel on legal frameworks that enable corruption], there’s a really well-known case in Peru: the Lima Metro case. Odebrecht paid bribes associated to sure sections of the Metro’s development. A typical story can be, “Odebrecht paid bribes, right here’s the quantity, and these folks obtained them.” That’s the factual half.

Nevertheless, we found that former president Alan García had signed emergency govt orders to bypass the state procurement system and accredited unjustified funds will increase for the challenge. [The whole story came out] years later, when Alan García’s right-hand man confessed that these govt orders have been accredited after a gathering on the Authorities Palace, the place Odebrecht requested them. We discovered related patterns within the Southern Gasoline Pipeline case, [another multi-million dollar contract granted to Odebrecht]. The prosecutor answerable for the Lava Jato case talked about that there have been additionally orders accredited that allowed unjustified funds will increase [for the construction of the pipeline].

These approvals aren’t unlawful by themselves, and that’s the issue. Corrupt people all the time say, “This isn’t unlawful.” Creating an offshore firm isn’t unlawful, however as journalists, our job isn’t to analyze illegality — that’s for the prosecutor. We examine public curiosity details and current them factually.

Journalism should keep alert to which rules are tailor-made to both facilitate corruption or guarantee impunity. It’s additionally essential to analyze authorized gaps that enable the corrupt to say, “Something goes.”

Ideally, how do you count on folks to make use of this materials, and what’s your dream for the way forward for this challenge?

Milagros: For me, the Observatorio needs to be an area for reflection, an area for dialog and an area to entry work methodologies. My dream is to collaborate with different media and organizations to incorporate instruments that enable monitoring info, like these associated to offshore accounts or corruption patterns. I’ve seen these instruments additionally assist prosecutors.

As an example, in Curitiba, [Brazil], an anti-corruption prosecutor instructed me that they had been educated in database programs. Once I requested which of them they used, they talked about some identified by journalists, but additionally many I hadn’t heard of. I’m virtually certain that Peruvian prosecutors don’t know platforms like Aleph from OCCRP. Open Corporates is extra generally used, however now it’s extra restricted. [ICIJ’s] Offshore Leaks [database] is broadly identified, most likely because of the Panama Papers.

In South America, we may assist unfold the usage of these instruments. We may be taught and construct bridges with different disciplines. How will we turn into everlasting students on this matter, dedicated to the residents?

Past journalists and authorities, how do you suppose this could profit audiences?

Gabriela: It’s not solely helpful for journalists but additionally for any citizen enthusiastic about understanding the size of corruption and the way it immediately impacts our lives. Plus, it helps cut back the excessive tolerance towards corruption that, sadly, exists in our international locations. The dream behind this initiative is that it turns into a software to strengthen citizen motion and contribute to higher public insurance policies, each nationwide and transnational, that actually deal with corruption.

Do you envision the Observatorio as a mannequin that colleagues in different consortia, international locations or areas may replicate or recreate? Or do you suppose ultimately tales not produced with Convoca might be included within the Observatorio?

Milagros: Each are attainable. In collaborative, cross-border initiatives, generally you lead, and different instances, you observe. I believe the Observatorio can work in that means. We wish to invite different shops to contribute their work and, from right here, from South America, assist with a extra world effort. That’s why I see it as an area for alternate and collaboration. After we began the work periods, we despatched a bundle of investigations to spark dialog. However we additionally instructed [participants], “Don’t restrict yourselves to those experiences.”