Transparency International (TI) has published their Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) since 1995, which ranks countries “by their perceived levels of corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys.”

The higher the number, the better.

2011’s results included 183 countries and territories around the world, including South America.

Out of all the countries surveyed throughout Central and South America, only Chile and Uruguay received a score above 7 (New Zealand had the highest score in the world, at 9.5).

Most of Latin America struggles in the report, with Haiti darkly edging out Venezuela by .1 on the scale an abysmal 1.8 to Venezuela’s score of 1.9. Venezuela, for example, has tragically spiraled under an outbreak of violent crime during the 13 years under Hugo Chavez‘s regime in Venezuela.

Unfortunately, most of the region is only an improvement to Venezuela and Haiti by comparison, with most countries languishing at an average score of 3.3*, leaving Chile and Uruguay as extreme outliers in the region.

Not only are they the only two nations above a score of 7.0, but only Cuba and Costa Rica manage to clear 4.0 out of 22 nations.

*22 Central American, South American, and Carribean nations were included for statistical purposes: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, & Venezuela)