Let's talk about government and corruption
Those two things always seem to go hand in hand, sort of like sleeping pills and naps
It's almost like one was created to bring on the other. No government is immune from the scourge that is corruption
From dog catcher to heads of state have all been arrested, fined, or investigated for some form of corruption
Someplace in the world, they've all had it. There have been people investigating corruption
that have been sent to jail for corruption during their investigation on corruption
Today, we're looking at what a UN report says are the most corrupt countries on the planet
Got it? Get it? Good. Let's take a look. Number 10, Nicaragua
This is Central America's largest country, and its custom officials have their hands
out for every kind of bribe you can get, making it a paradise for illegal gold mining
logging, or whatever else you wanna do, and the government's there to give it a nod
as long as you got some cash. There are 7 million people living in Nicaragua
and their government is a little bit corrupt. It borders Honduras to the north, the Caribbean Sea, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west
I've been in this country. A lot of heat, a lot of insects. The most common corruption in Nicaragua involves their customs department
They like to receive their bribes to allow certain goods into the country
And it's not just things coming into the country. They get a bribe to let all the illegal logging go out of the country
So it's like a double whammy. The loggers are bribing them to let them cut down trees
and then they have to bribe them again to get them out of the country. Number nine, Haiti
This Caribbean nation has seen its share of troubles, from gangs, drugs
Their officials allegedly like dipping into the cookie jar, like in the case of the earthquake relief fund
finding its way into personal accounts instead of helping the people of Haiti
Haiti is one of two countries on the Isle of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea
It's like a border that goes right down the middle that separates Haiti from the Dominican Republic
There are 11 million people living on the Haitian side alone. Now, back in 2010, they had a major earthquake
Funds were coming into Haiti for the cleanup from all around the world
different organizations, including one set of donations that came from the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation
Well, one of their people that had something to do with FIFA, they donated a whole bunch of money to the Haitian Relief Fund
but it was transferred and right into its leader's bank account. Didn't seem to make its way to Haiti
So it wasn't just the Haitian people getting in on ripping off this money. That earthquake was 14, almost 15 years ago
They're still in recovery from that. But it wasn't just the earthquake funds
Haitian leaders are known to take from public funds and put it right into their own bank accounts or just in their pockets
Number eight, Somalia. Somalia is like the wild, wild west with folks arming themselves to the T
This entire country is like a live action version of Grand Theft Auto
If you don know it just this game where you can just shoot people randomly and do all kinds of weird stuff whatever you want to do But this country has been in bad shape forever Military officials like to pocket funds meant for soldiers and buy themselves property in other countries and things like that
It's been trying to get its act together since about 1991, but with militant groups in the mix, it's pretty much an uphill battle
This is a country of 17.6 million people, and it's like everyone in the country is for themselves
You have to protect yourself because the police and the military are non-existent
even though they're there. And a lot of the money that does come into the country are from other countries trying to help them get it together
Army leaders in the country fraudulently gain funds by exaggerating the number of their troops
Some of the funds go to the military, very few, but a majority they do keep themselves
After the collapse of their last regime in 1991, Somalia entered a prolonged period of civil war and anarchy
leading to the absence of a functional central government for about two decades
Now, in 2012, the federal government of Somalia was established, but their authority is challenged all the time
It's never going to be better. Not in our lifetime. Number seven, South Sudan
This is the world's youngest country, and it's got its military run in the show
And, you know, that always works out perfect. Money laundering is just another day at the office for the officials of this country
making it hard for any real progress to kick in. They have almost 11 million people living in this new country that broke off from Sudan in 2011
This is also one of the poorest countries on the planet. With the military in charge, you know things are going to get weird
especially when they don't have to be transparent about their expenditures. This includes the money they get in from other countries in the form of aid
Now, although South Sudan received substantial international aid, its isolation due to ongoing conflict has limited effective international oversight
and support for anti-corruption measures. So it's just going to continue to be corrupt
Besides the military running the show, resources and opportunities often are allocated based on your tribal or ethnic affiliation
rather than merit or need. Number six, Venezuela. Caracas and company have seen better days. With journalism under a tight
leash and drug trafficking making the headlines, accusations of drug dealing have even reached the
top offices, making it a soap opera worth watching. But sadly, it's real life for Venezuelans
This is a country that's been going downhill for the better part of two decades. Even their
The former leader, Hugo Chavez, was accused of drug trafficking. The shift towards an authoritarian regime under Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro
has weakened the rule of law and increased political instability in this country
Besides all the problems they have with corruption, it's one of those countries that the State Department of the United States
advises people not to go there. There are 28 million people living in Venezuela
Number five Yemen Yemen has been caught in a conflict that basically torn this country apart Their struggling economy is always on its last legs
and bribery is about as common as sand in the desert, where tribal loyalties trump all state laws
It's like no matter what law they pass, if the village elder says that's not how it's happening
that's not how it's happening. Yemen's economy is one of the poorest in the Middle East
heavily dependent on declining oil resources, which once made up most of the revenue for the country
They try and get investors in, I don't know, get more oil wells, whatever they need
And they find it challenging because they're in competition with state-owned enterprises
Tax officials usually extract bribes for everything. From every country that wants to invest there
from anyone that turns a dime in Yemen, the tax officials are gonna pocket some of it
This country has 33.7 million residents and they're not in good shape
Number four, Afghanistan. Look, it's our old pal Afghanistan. You know, this country has really
turned the corner and they've got their act together. I mean, it's just great. Totally kidding
This place is a nightmare and it always has been. With a tax system that's more about who you know
than what you owe, Afghanistan's been battling corruption in all corners of the country
from the drug trade to the government offices. You ever wonder where all that opium comes from
Yeah, it's coming from Afghanistan. I've always liked how this country is all about religion until it gets to the drug trade
Then they're a little hazy on the rules on what's good and what's bad. Companies that have gone into Afghanistan to try and do any kind of business
have found that officials demand companies pay taxes that don't exist. They make them up as they go
And because of that, a lot of companies will send generous gifts and payments to public officials
This is another country that's broken up heavily by tribal factions. So the government is almost like just another tribal faction
And some of the tribes don't see the government as legitimate, so they just do what they want to do
Decades of war have weakened the state's institutions and the rule of law
creating an environment where corruption can flourish. Constant power shifts have also led to a lack of accountability in this country
They got 41 million people living here, and it is one of the absolute poorest countries in the world
Number three, Equatorial Guinea. This is a small country on the western coast of Africa. It's a
small country, but it's got big corruption where oil wealth ends up in the pockets of a few and
power is about as concentrated as their famous coca. This is a strange little country. Now
it's very small and it comes in two parts. There's the mainland part and then there's a little island
that's just off the coast and that's where you'll find the capital. This is also not one of those
African country where you'll see like the open plains and the savannah. This is a jungle and the
only Spanish speaking country in Africa. They have some oil, so you know there's going to be a lot of
corruption Government officials turn a blind eye to most things and human rights are really just an afterthought But their main form of corruption here comes from the exploitation of its significant oil reserves It not that big
of a country. Like I said, they only got like 1.4 million residents. Number two, Democratic Republic
of Congo. Most people just call it the Congo. This country has a long history of corruption
and a lot of it has to do with the natural resources and the natural beauty of this country
Everything from tour guide to, like, president, they take a bribe here in the Congo
This country used to be called Zaire or the Democratic Republic of Zaire, and they had a president from 1965 to 1997
I guess they don't have term limits there. His name was Mobutu, and his 30-plus years on the political scene
was more about lining pockets than lifting people. His rule was characterized by kleptocracy
meaning he would loot the public funds for personal use. He also liked to block opponents from criticizing his rule
Now, these days, a lot of their corruption is based around their natural resources and global demand
particularly those critical for electronics and electric vehicles. The way the world's going right now, you know that's valuable
And the government officials that are lining their pockets know that too, so they can ask for a lot of money just for access to the country
There's over 100 million people living in this country, and a lot of them are living off the land
No help from the government. All right, before we get to number one
did you know we have another channel called The Sweet Life for Briggs? It's a travel channel that has videos
about where we stay and what we do when we travel. There's a link for that down below
All right, on to number one. And number one, Camaroos. Camaros is an island country located in the Indian Ocean at the northern end of the Mozambique
Channel, off the eastern coast of Africa between northeastern Mozambique and northwestern Madagascar
And it's just a little speck on the map. It's very small. They've only got 800,000 people living
in the whole thing. The entire country is made up of three small islands. The economy of Camaros
is one of the world's smallest and is heavily dependent on agriculture, including vanilla and
clothes. The biggest corruption here was the Camaroos Passport Sale scandal. They ran a
citizenship by investment program from 2008 to 2015. Basically, you had to buy your way into
citizenship. The proceeds were meant to finance development in the country. Instead, the proceeds
were embezzled by those involved in the scheme. This is such a poor country, the corruption and
the taking of bribes is sort of just supplementing the income because they have so little to live off
of. Out of the 800,000 people that live on these three small islands that make up Camaros, about
795,000 of them live well below the poverty line. And that is how they became the most corrupt
country in the world. They're not taking that much, but it's doing the most damage
All right, that's today's video. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Hope you got some information of it. Now go out, have a great day, be nice to each other