Page 18 - Anatomy-of-a-Fraud

ABSTRACT

This book puts forth the view that far from being the "narrow margin" victory

its supporters claimed, the election of Nicolas Ardito Barletta was in fact the result of

a vast, deliberate, all-pervading fraud, consummated before, during and after the May
6 elections. The book postulates that this enormous fraud was the inevitable

consequence of the anti-democratic and corrupt regime established in Panama
following Col. Omar Torrijos’s coup d’état in October 1968, and points to the dry rot

evident in Torrijismo since its founder's accidental death in 1981 and continuing after
the elections.

Although admittedly partisan –its author is a leading figure in the Panamanian
Christian Democratic party, one of the members of the opposition alliance robbed of

its victory by the fraud–, this book has been painstakingly researched and includes a
wealth of factual information that makes a convincing case for the author's viewpoint.

The work is divided into three parts, dealing respectively with the electoral campaign,

the elections themselves, and the events following them. A voluminous appendix
reproduces much of the original evidence supporting Arias de Para's contentions.

Chapter I:

Provides an in-depth study of Panamanian politics on the eve of the

elections. It establishes the decisive role played by the Defense Forces (the former

National Guard) in picking a pliable candidate who would ensure their continued

stranglehold on power. This section identifies the dramatis personae and is
particularly helpful in guiding the foreign reader through the intricacies of

Panamanian politics as the two main opposing forces, the UNADE (Barletta's pro-

government alliance) and ADO (Arnulfo Arias' opposition alliance) entered the
electoral jousting field. This chapter makes a detailed analysis of the means used by

the government to shut out opposition parties from the mass media, the illegal use of