Speakers

• José Adán Aguerri, President, COSEP Nicaragua
• José González Campo, President, FEDEPRICAP Guatemala
• Aida de Maduro, Vice President, FEDEPRICAP; former President and Member of the Board, CONEP Panama
• Antonio Mora, Latin American Affairs Analyst; former Network News Anchor (moderador)

Business leaders from across Central America discuss how the private sector can bolster current efforts to fight corruption at the same time as industries contribute to economic prosperity. At the second panel of an event hosted by the Council of the Americas in Washington, panelists talked about recent improvements in Guatemalan institutions and regulations, efforts to modernize borders among countries to facilitate trade flow, as well as the need to align common interests between the private sector and government to improve infrastructure and security. 

• Watch the first panel with legal experts about rule of law in Central America.

Speakers

• Claudia Escobar, Fellow, National Endowment for Democracy; former Guatemalan Court of Appeals Magistrate
• Kristin Tennyson, Chair, Western Hemisphere Area Studies, U.S. Foreign Service Institute
• Donald J. Planty, Senior Advisor, Albright Stonebridge Group; former U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala
• Eric Farnsworth, Vice President, Americas Society/Council of the Americas (Moderator)

When corruption is present, there is no strong rule of law, explained Claudia Escobar, a former Guatemalan Court of Appeals Magistrate, adding: "There is a fight against corruption, but the system is still the same." Judge Escobar was joined by a former U.S. ambassador to Guatemala and a Latin American expert in a Council of the Americas event in Washingon to discuss the impendiments to strengthening rule of law in Central America because. Panelists also addressed the history of other countries such as Spain and Chile as models for battling impunity.

• Watch the second panel discussion about the role of the private sector in improving the rule of law in Central America.