US embassy cable - 04CARACAS2687

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