Page 16 - Anatomy-of-a-Fraud

This latter point is highly symptomatic. The clearest sign of the regime’s
decomposition and, at the same time, one of the most significant elements
contributing to that decay, is the generalized corruption the regime fostered. The
one hundred-million-dollar Social Security scandal, which broke out in 1982,
underscored internal corruption. The firing of the National Guard’s Executive
Secretary following the elections, for ties to the international drug traffic,
highlighted the external component of that all-pervading corruption. “… and
absolute power corrupts absolutely”. It is thus that it becomes decomposed.
Panamanians thought, sensed that the road to democratization would culminate in
the 1984 elections. The very quality of the electoral contest would determine
whether our country would move forward or backward at this crossroads of its
history.

“Anatomy of a Fraud”

Faced with the alternative embodied in the elections, the Panamanian people
clearly chose the road to democracy and voted for the presidential ticket headed by
Dr. Arnulfo Arias.

This book by Raúl Arias de Para, a thorough dissection of the fraud, brings
out an incontrovertible fact: the 1,713 votes claimed by the pro-government
alliance do not reflect a narrow margin of victory in a hotly contested election.
Rather, they point to the difficulty in consummating the fraud, despite all the
resources poured into the task, because of the wide margin of victory the electorate
gave the opposition ticket.

Both the fact and the scope of the fraud are beyond any doubt not only in the
mind of the nation that was its direct victim but also in national and international
public analysis. The “narrow margin” argument is shown to be no more than the
pathetic and hypocritical excuse wielded by those seeking to cover up their actual
complicity or their moral indifference.

The Anatomy of a fraud fully justifies the harsh judgment of the Panamanian
bishops in their statement of May 25:

“Certain aspects of the elections have caused great

concern in wide sectors of the people and profoundly
discouraged others in the younger generations, who
expected something different. There has been a serious
setback on the road to democratization and a deterioration

of our country’s international image”.