Page 107 - Anatomy-of-a-Fraud

“Voter behavior on May 6 was exemplary. Throughout the republic, they
exhibited interest, hope, order, and respect.

There was freedom of speech.
Certain aspects of the elections have caused great concern and profound

disappointment among wide sectors, particularly the new generations that
expected something different. There has been a serious setback on the

road to democratization; our country’s international image has been
eroded.

There have been cases of media abuses… partiality in the news, at times
reaching the level of dishonesty, verbal violence, and personal
invective…

[there was] high voter turnout, despite the problem that many registered

voters did not show up in electoral listings.

In quite a few cases the prevailing attitude has been the old approach of
‘winning by any means’, through vote-buying, the dog-earing of cards,
the distribution of liquor, the undue use of government resources and
personnel and, in some instances, the well-known interference by the

National Defense Forces”.

Most of the precincts challenged … particularly in the presidential
elections, were challenged for arbitrary and purely partisan reasons.

It is evident that these developments have disappointed a whole nation
and clouded the credibility of its electoral institutions, the essence of
which is the freely cast and honestly counted vote.

This event [May 7 disturbances], graphically reported by the press and

on television, has deeply wounded Panamanian sensitivity. On the face of
so many photographs and eyewitnesses, one cannot understand the law’s
delay in indicting and punishing at least those most responsible”.

Statement of the Panamanian Bishops Conference on the Electoral
Process, La Prensa, May 28, 1984, page 5B (Our bolding).

In these paragraphs, the Catholic Church –the par excellence impartial and
objective witness– confirm the charges of government abuses of power, fraud, and
complicity in the tragic events of May 7. What store is to be set, therefore, by any
statements from Barletta or any other UNADE sympathizer claiming that the elections
represented the popular will?