Page 31 - Anatomy-of-a-Fraud

reduced to the classic –and indeed quite noble role– reserved for the armed forces in
contemporary democracies: a strictly professional role, limited to the protection of the
life and property of the citizens and the defense of the country’s sovereignty and
territorial integrity.
However, the events narrated thus far prove that this military “redeployment”
–as they themselves called it– was merely a rhetorical exercise. We shall soon see how
this redeployment will in fact turn into an open rearguard attack.

Meddling by the Defense Force was not limited to suggesting and vetoing
names. Long before the electoral process got under way, the General Staff, in one way
or another, had sponsored, stimulated, financed, and directed the creation of the six
political parties that eventually created the UNADE.

At its convention, held in Chitré on March 28, 1981, the Liberal Party had
adopted a clear opposition posture. But as the 1984 election drew closer, a group of
prominent Liberals, only interested in picking the plums of power and not in
establishing a true democracy in Panama, began to scheme for control of the party. By
the end of 1981, some of these “gynecological” Liberals (as they were to be called,
after the occupation of one of its most prominent figures) were publicly discussing the
possibility of an alliance with the “real power”, i.e., the National Guard. It was then
that the group “Liberals for Paredes” (later to be known as “Liberals for Barletta”)
came into being. Paredes was only too pleased to foster this rift in the Liberal ranks.
He rewarded Aquilino Boyd, former Ambassador to the United Nations and Foreign
Minister under Torrijos, as well as a leading figure among the pro-government Liberal
faction, with the Washington Embassy. Early in 1982 the Liberal Party expelled Boyd.
But the damage had already been done. At a critical moment, one of the most influential
Liberals had formally allied himself to the government, i.e., to the National Guard. It
was only a matter of time before the party would be rent asunder.
In fact, on May 8, 1983, the pro-government faction led by David Samudio and
Esquivel and undoubtedly encouraged by Boyd’s initiative, called for an extraordinary
convention, and finally took over the party. In exactly nine months’ time, prominent
Liberals would be heading government departments, autonomous bodies, and other
well rewarded official posts. They had achieved one of their aims –they were picking
the plums of power.
Those Liberals read out of their own party through legal subterfuges filed a
complaint with the Electoral Tribunal. On August 30, however, the Court found in
favor of the pro-government faction. Dr. César Quintero, the presiding judge, voted
against the other two justices that made up the pro-government majority in the Electoral
Tribunal. Quintero’s minority opinions, as well shall see, were among the very few –
and possibly the only– remnants of decency in the authorities throughout this
fraudulent electoral process. And thus, Liberal Party, whose origins predate the
creation of the republic, reached an agreement with the National Guard in exchange for