Page 69 - Anatomy-of-a-Fraud

tally sheets, had been deposited at Defense Forces barracks throughout the country for
distribution to electoral officials. This was the so-called “logistical support” which,
according to Justice Quintero, the Guard would provide. Instead, it allowed the Guard
to control the flow of voting ballots, illegally handing these forms to its supporters, and
thereby making vote-buying possible. (See exhibit 17).

And thus, we come to the third part of this section, devoted to the massive
buying of votes that took place.

C. “Everybody votes like this.”

San Blas is a paradisiacal string of islands along Panama’s Atlantic coast. It is
also a very particular place when it comes to politics. Its inhabitants, Cuna Indians, all
of them, have never felt any strong allegiance to the Republic of Panama. As a matter
of fact, in 1925 they declared their independence and even hoisted their own flag.
Bringing them back into the national fold was a task that cost the central government
eleven dead and numerous wounded.

In 1977, when the plebiscite on the Torrijos – Carter Treaties, the Cunas again
showed their “independence” and their scorn for the central government by being the
only district in the country to vote against the treaties. The pro-government press called
them “traitors” back then, but by the time the 1984 presidential elections had come and
gone, the Cunas were being extolled as “heroes”.

With astounding military precision, they voted for UNADE by a ten to one
margin. And this happened in San Blas, where Arias’s legendary popularity is exceeded
only by its inhabitant’s quasi-congenital dislike of the central government. Moreover,
the population had warmly received the ADO ticket when they visited the islands just
14 days before the elections. Surprisingly, the turn-out was extremely high: 84 % as
compared to 70 % for the country as a whole. Something odd had happened. Who better
than the presiding justice of the Electoral Tribunal to shed light on the details?

“In connection with suspicions of fraud or vote-buying in the San Blas Indian
district, where Barletta won by a suspicious landslide, Quintero pointed out that the
problem lies in the fact that Indians have been granted full rights without being
prepared to exercise them. He adds that all that needs to be done in San Blas to win an
election is to come to an understanding with the ‘eagles’ or ‘chiefs’, all Indians
27
faithfully follow the chief’s instructions. There are no dissident opinions”.

27
La Vanguardia, Barcelona, May 21, 1984, page 5. (The full text of this most revealing interview
may be read in exhibit 15).