Walmart de Mexico NY Times Expose

Disgusting, despicalbe, add your own adjective.

A long read but worth your time.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/b...ico-a-bribe-inquiry-silenced.html?_r=1&emc=na

 

That's it. I will never give walmart another peso!

 

I already try not to go to Walmart. It started with their stupid policy that there own managers could not even do it right. Their corporate officers in the US should be ashamed to do business this way. $24 million or so in bribes is nothing to them but to contribute to the corruption just makes it harder for legitimate small businesses to operate; most of which need employees.

 

This type of corporate behavior flies in the face of any development effort the U.S. may make towards Mexico, and contributes to the very thing that is holding Mexico back from becoming the country it could be.

Mexico has the twelfth largest economy in the world and would look very different, were it not for corruption.

 

Walmart

I don't get it...I'm under the impression that everyone else is under the impression that bribery for contracts and corruption in "higher political places" just happens in Mexico! DIdn't the Mayor of Chicago just go to jail for trying to SELL Obama's Junior Senate seat? I can understand if Walmart says bribery is not THEIR policy but please.....I can't think of anything anywhere that can't be acquired anytime...with just a little $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$!
JUST MY OPINION!

 

Maybe I'm just jaded after several years in Mexico, but I read this over the weekend and it didn't surprise me in the slightest.

From what I understand, you can't do much in Mexico without a bribe. That makes me very sad, especially when it comes to building permits in areas that shouldn't be built on, but I can't really blame Walmart de Mexico for doing what's necessary. Small and large business just can't do anything here without paying bribes, whether it's to officials, Zetas, whomever.

It makes me sick, but if I were to boycott Walmart for paying bribes, I'd have to boycott pretty much every restaurant, shop, hotel and grocery store in Cancun.

I do hope some good comes out of this article, and if Walmart is punished, maybe... just maybe... it will help Mexico to realize that its level of corruption is pretty f***ed up.

 

If the evidence is there, the corporation and those responsible will be punished. The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is strong, when it is enforced: the U.S. Attorney may have no choice but to proceed on this one, Walmart being such a high profile company.

If they did it in Mexico, it's also possible they did it in other very corrupt places they've set up shop, like China. This could bring Walmart to its knees, if enough dirt is revealed and the government goes after them.

It's things just like this that the F.C.P.A. was meant to prevent- U.S. companies going abroad and engaging in dirty business practices, just to make more money....

As for any comparison of Mexico and the U.S. in terms of how much you must engage in paying bribes in order to do business in the U.S., all I can say is, "You must be kidding." The U.S. is one of the ten least corrupt countries in the world, according to Transparency International. I wish it were the least corrupt, but that would require more active policing than we seem to be currently willing to pay for.

 

The Corruption Perceptions Index 2011:

NZ gets 9.5, Denmark and Finland 9.4, Sweden 9.3, Singapore 9.2, Norway 9.


Thats the top 6.


Then follows Netherlands 8.9, Australia and Switzerland 8.8, Canada 8.7, Luxembourg 8.5, Hong Kong 8.4, Iceland 8.3, Germany and Japan 8.

After that: Austria, Barbados and the UK 7.8, Belgium and Ireland 7.5, Chile and Qatar7.2, US 7.1, France, St Lucia and Uruguay all get a 7.

Mexico lands an impressive 3....

*10 = Best possible. 0 = worst possible.



Edit: Accidentally I wrote "2001". This is from 2011.

 

And they paid a bribe to get a score of 3 :icon_smile:

 

Hahahaha, thanks for making me spill my tea