GOV. ROJAS BRIEFS AMBASSADOR ON FRAUD CHARGES

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 002687

SIPDIS


NSC FOR CBARTON
HQ USSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
USAID DCHA/OTI FOR RPORTER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/25/2014
TAGS: PGOV KDEM VE
SUBJECT: GOV. ROJAS BRIEFS AMBASSADOR ON FRAUD CHARGES


Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ABELARDO A. ARIAS FOR REASONS 1.4 (d
)

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Summary
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1. (C) Bolivar State Gov. Antonio Rojas Suarez and Bolivar
state legal advisor Juan Jose Rendon briefed the Ambassador
August 19 on the allegations of fraud uncovered by Rendon in
the August 15 presidential recall referendum. Rojas said the
opposition has found 1920 voting machines with what they
regard as suspicious numbers. The Ambassador urged the
opposition to take its evidence to the OAS and Carter Center,
and to make a calm and well reasoned argument to the
technical experts with each mission. Rojas, a retired Army
General, also said he had taken the allegations to the
military's unified command. He did not specify to whom, but
noted that the allegations were treated with concern. End
Summary.

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Claims of More Evidence
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2. (C) Bolivar State Gov. Antonio Rojas Suarez and Bolivar
state legal advisor Juan Jose met with the Ambassador,
PolCouns and PolOff on August 19 to discuss the allegations
of fraud in the August 15 presidential recall referendum.
Rojas and Rendon said there are many electoral tables where
tally sheets from voting machines registered the same number
of yes votes at all the machines at the table, or a smaller
number. Rendon claims this evidence indicates the machines
were programmed with an upper limit for yes votes, which
artificially suppressed the yes vote overall in the
referendum. Rendon showed us original tally sheets (the
copies that went to the opposition witnesses) from six
tables, with three showing 2 of 3 machines with the same vote
count for yes, and three with all the machines showing the
same yes vote count. Gov. Rojas claimed that the opposition
had now found 1920 machines (out of over 20,000) with similar
results.


3. (C) Rendon, who claims to have worked on elections with
Mexico's PRI, said he had noted various other patterns of
irregularities which they were examining. The Governor noted
that he and Rendon had just come from the meeting of the
(democratic) Governor's association where others wre bringing
forth similar results from their states. They now had numbers
from nine states, Rendon said, showing similar
irregularities.


4. (C) Gov. Rojas told the Ambassador that a computer had
been found in a cyber cafe used by members of the Maisanta
campaign. He claimed that his supporters, using an electronic
address on the computer, had entered a web-site with
election results which they could play with. Rendon said they
would need a hacker to fully exploit the discovery. The
Ambassador encouraged them to present whatever evidence they
had to the OAS/CC.

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Key Role of OAS/CC
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5. (C) The Ambassador told Gov. Rojas and Rendon that they
should take the evidence, and present it to the technical
experts at the OAS and the Carter Center. He noted the damage
caused by Miranda Gov. Enrique Mendoza's confused and excited
presentation August 18. The argument, the Ambassador said,
was too confusing and technical to convince a skeptical
layman, and that techincal experts Edgardo Mimica at the
Carter Center, and Edgardo Reis at the OAS were the key
people they needed to convince. Rendon said they had
presented them with their evidence, and that Mimica had been
very interested, while Reis was skeptical.

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CUFAN
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6. (C) Gov. Rojas also said he had spoken to members of the
Unified Armed Forces Command (CUFAN) about the fraud
allegations. He reported that his contacts had spoken to him
about mistrust of the referendum results within the Armed
Forces. He noted the unusual silence from the military since
the referendum.

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Comment
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7. (C) The opposition's allegations are mired in technical
detail and clouded by the proliferation of theories. Without
clarity it is unlikely that they will succeed in convincing
international observers that the statistical phenomenon is
really significant. In addition, they will also have to face
the hard facts of the results of the August 19-20 audit
overseen by the Carter Center and the OAS.
Shapiro


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2004CARACA02687 - CONFIDENTIAL