Page 93 - Anatomy-of-a-Fraud

E. “Who’s going to betray Dr. Nicolás Ardito Barletta?”
The late Silverio Brown

After having emptied his gun several times into a crowd of ADO sympathizers
milling outside, Silverio Brown, a common criminal with a long police record, broke
into the National Returns Board building and shouted at the top of his lungs: “Who’s
going to betray Dr. Nicolás Ardito Barletta?” He was brandishing two guns, as was the
hoodlum accompanying him who also wore a cap identifying him as a member of the
“PRD Special Commando”.

“Viva Arias!”, someone shouted from the bleachers.

“Bring that guy down here”, Brown barked to his companion. But before his
order could be carried out, one of the Defense Forces officers assigned to the building
went over to Brown, put his arm around the man’s shoulder, said a few words to him
and led him outside the room. On their way out, Brown and his crony smashed the
cameras of an Associated Press reporter. It was approximately 7:30 p.m. on Monday,
May 7, 1984. The “PRD Special Commando”, with the General Staff’s complicity and
the obvious approval of UNADE leaders, was conducting an “operation” –to say it in
military parlance– aimed at terrorizing the people and keeping them from defending in
the streets the victory they had won at the ballot boxes. It mattered little to them if their
actions caused innocent victims, as in fact they did. The important thing was to terrorize
the people.

La Prensa, in its May 8 issue, page 1A, reports the event that took place that
fateful evening in the area surrounding the National Returns Board:

“The expectations throughout the country surrounding the results of last
Sunday’s presidential elections caused… hundreds of ADO sympathizers
to begin gathering since about 4:30 p.m. yesterday in the area

surrounding the Legislative Palace (headquarters for the National Returns
Board) to prevent a possible “rip off” of candidate Arnulfo Arias Madrid.

A few minutes later, a small group of PRD supporters appeared on the
scene and began shouting Torrijista slogans… Both groups were about
to clash but pro-government supporters, aware of their clear numerical

inferiority, decided to withdraw. Opposition demonstrators seized on this
opportunity to hoist the tricolor flag of the Authentic Panameñista Party
on the main flagpole of the Legislative Palace.

Their elation was short-lived. A second pro-government group, led by the
“PRD Special Commando” showed up at 7 p.m. and immediately opened

fire against the crowd with hand weapons, submachine guns, and
automatic rifles.

Some 24 Defense Forces guardsmen on duty at the Legislative Palace,
decided to close the iron gates and prevented those insides from leaving”.
See photographs in Exhibit 7.