I highlighted the repeatedly French aspect of corruption as it spreads throughout the world and deep into the Americas here on October 6th. Besides the UN oil for Food mega—scandal, and the French corporate payoffs in Russia, there's French bribery at the highest levels of Organization of American States. Last Friday, news of French cash for a campaign to win the leadership of the OAS toppled Miguel Angel Rodriguez, its new secretary—general.
 
Rodriguez may be out but it's not the end of the story. Scrutiny of French corruption since our piece last week is growing. The formidable Andres Oppenheimer of the Miami Herald  takes on the issue as a corporate corruption story and the damage it wreaks in Latin America. His account of his effort to reach the French company responsible for the bribery, Alcatel, is striking for what it reveals about French attitudes about corruption. 

A.M. Mora y Leon  10 10 04