Page 119 - Anatomy-of-a-Fraud

Interior. Fifteen thousand gallons of gasoline used by PALA in Chiriquí and paid for
by the Ministry of Public Works. Numerous official vehicles used for partisan
purposes. Large number of civil servants engaged in politics; the list goes on and on.
At the same time, civil servants were subjected to an intense intimidation campaign.
“It’s not mandatory, but you’d better be there”, were words frequently heard in
government agencies. “Vote for us or you’ll lose your job” was another commonly
used tactic, as we have documented with the full names of some civil servants subject
to this unabashed bullying.

The campaign ended with the opposition almost totally barred from the media.
This exclusion grew worse as May 6 drew nearer. It included arbitrary cancellations of
radio programs, slander campaigns not less vicious for being patently absurd,
irresponsible lack of fairness and the total ignorance of the rules of the game that the
media themselves had established.
We also saw the sad spectacle of an openly partisan Electoral Tribunal, which
not even its chief justice could control.

On that much awaited May 6, fraud emerged from its lair and took over the
country. Its tools were tampered official listings, the massive and systematic buying of
votes, arbitrary challenges, the theft of tally sheets in the dead of night and, lastly, the
infamous “PRD Special Commando”, lord and master of the streets, shooting
opposition supporters with absolute impunity and boasting of its dastardly deeds.
All these crimes were committed under the ever-watchful gaze –or, indeed, with
the active participation– of the Defense Forces General Staff and the UNADE leaders.

Vote counting was a farce. The chairman of the National Returns Board was the
same man who, scarcely a few weeks earlier, had publicly toasted Barletta’s victory.
This same man then conveniently stepped down so that his alternate, perhaps more
skillful, and unscrupulous, could better consummate the fraud. But the honest and
courageous words of Dormoi, Fernández and Gadeloff, true servants of their country’s
best interests, left an impartial and most revealing record for posterity.
The Electoral Tribunal then validated the fraud. Its unprecedented decision not
to inspect or tally 44,127 votes, representing 6.45 % of all votes cast, in an election
where the margin of alleged victory was only 1,713 votes –0.25 % of all votes cast–
can only be described as fraudulent and irresponsible. Moreover, the arbitrary dismissal
of the lawful motion to ser aside filed in connection with Circuit 4-4 results, based on
an obsolete and inapplicable regulation, dramatically underscores the role of fraud
facilitators played by the country’s highest electoral authorities. And thus, the General
Staff’s wishes were met, and Barletta was handed his presidential credentials.
Ineffective though they undoubtedly were, the chief justice’s abstentions are irrefutable
evidence of the fraud committed.
And then, there are the votes, the popular will be expressed in figures. ADO tally
sheets clearly show that, despite everything, we won! We won despite trickery and
deceit. We won despite the fraud reflected in the system’s own figures. We won despite
a conspiracy of silence that limited us to two newspapers and a handful of radio
stations. And our performance was legitimate, and we are proud of it. By contrast,