TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, JULY 17, 2002 (Zenit.org).- Ethical reforms are needed in Honduras to weed out corruption, Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga said in an address to the National Congress.
The archbishop of Tegucigalpa, in his capacity as president of the Anti-Corruption National Council, said the problem of corruption poses the greatest obstacle to sustainable development.
«We witness the conditions that foster the growth of corruption if the rule of law is fragile and the laws are not applied or they are applied in order to further the interests of economic or political groups,» the cardinal said in his address, reported in the Web page of Vidimus Dominum, the information service of religious communities.
In his recent address, the prelate started by listing the negative effects of corruption on the economy of the country and on its international credibility, inasmuch «it prevents the reduction of poverty, … impoverishes public administration [and] … discourages foreign investments.»
He then outlined positive policies to undertake, and stressed that the goal of eliminating corruption is closely linked to ethical reforms.
«There will be no peace, nor reconciliation, nor security nor governability … where there is no truth,» he said. «Therefore, it is urgent that all the powers of the state once again recover the love for truth in the public and private sector, as well as in the family and educational spheres.»
