From Banana Republic to Mexico

It has been years since Glafcos Clerides, half-jokingly, described Cyprus as a “Banana Republic.”

This is not because the economy is based on the production and export of bananas, but because the term is often used for states where institutions and government mechanisms do not function and a corrupt clique is in power.

This sentence was spoken about three decades ago (Glafcos Clerides died 11 years ago), and now, in 2024, we look at Mexico and see a similarity in terms of corruption. Not the ordinary citizens, but the president of the republic himself.

“I really believe that we can become a model country in the fight against corruption,” said Nicos Christodoulides, speaking at a youth symposium. “Mexico was known for drugs and organized crime for many years, and with the policies that have been implemented, it is slowly presenting itself as a model country in tackling organized crime.”

In Mexico, drug cartels were indeed in power, resulting in thousands of deaths, millions of impoverished people, and a corrupt caste that undermined everything. Until a president decided to put his house in order and mobilize the army against the cartels, which also resulted in thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of impoverished people crossing the borders in search of the promised land. In other words, corruption still exists, but at least there is an attempt to combat it or at least limit it.

In our case, it is significant that the president acknowledges the existence of corruption, which, among other things, damages the country’s image abroad and discourages investors from operating here. “The problem of corruption is a devastating cancer in our social and political life, with adverse effects in all sectors, while at the same time it damages the reputation of our country internationally, with all the negative consequences that this entails,” President Christodoulides said in his speech.

But Mr. Christodoulides did not fall from the sky to govern the country. He was a member of the government for nine years, a government that was more identified with corruption than any other government. And now he has been president for a year and a half.

What has he done to combat corruption? (Apart from firing the Accountant General, who demonstrably fought corruption, albeit in an inappropriate tone.) We are not saying he should send the army into the streets, but is appointing Giorgos Aresti as ethics advisor enough?

Is Mexico a step forward from the banana republic, a step backward, or are they still the same?