Bombshell: PRD Coordinating Riot Actions With SUNTRACS - Caught On Tape!

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Last night a highly controversial recording appeared on YouTube. This recording is supposedly a conversation between the President of the Partido Revolucionario Democrático (PRD) (Revolutionary Democratic Party) in the Republic of Panama, Francisco "Pachi" Sánchez Cárdenas, and Saúl Méndez, who is the Secretary of Organization of the Sindicato Único Nacional de Trabajadores de la Industria de la Construcción y Similares (SUNTRACS) (Single National Union of Construction Industry Workers and Similar). In the recording the two are apparently discussing and coordinating actions to be taken in Bocas del Toro during the height of the riots and conflicts between striking banana workers and police. First of all I'm going to provide the recording itself, as well as a transcript of what is said and a translation to English. I'll discuss the potential political implications of this later. This is a huge story that is dominating the Panamanian press (and gossip circles) today. (more)

• (Ringing)

• Cárdenas: Dime. (Tell me.)

• Méndez: Halo. (Hello).

• Cárdenas: Me escucha? (Can you hear me?)

• Méndez: Pachi? (Pachi?)

• Cárdenas: Si. (Yes.)

• Méndez: ¿A dónde tu estas? Estás en tu casa? (Where are you? Are you in your house?)

• Cárdenas: Si, si, como no. (Yes, of course.)

• Méndez: Correcto, mira, ehhh ... Me esta llamando la dirigencia. La dirigencia me esta diciendo que el movimiento va a ser peor de lo que esta ahora mismo. No hay negociaciones para nada. Pero ellos me estan diciendo espérate, que el PRD, asi me estan diciendo, que nos apoyan. (Right, look, ehhh. The leadership is calling me. The leadership is telling me that the movement is going to be worse than what it is right now. There are no negotiations at all. But they are telling me wait, the PRD, that is what they are telling me, will support us.)

• Cárdenas: Uh huh, uh huh. (Uh huh, Uh huh.)

• Méndez: Tú me dices a mí que manténgase, nos vamos a mantener. (If you tell me to stand firm, then we will stand firm.)

• Cárdenas: Correcto, así esta bien. (Correct. That's good.)

• Méndez: El presidente quiere dialogo, no hay dialogo con el. Que usted dice? (The president wants dialog, but there is no dialog with him. What do you say?)

• Cárdenas: Tranquillo. Manténganse firme. (Remain calm. Stand firm.)

• Méndez: ¿Como tú me dices, que me mantengo firme? (What do you say, that I should remain firm?)

• Cárdenas: Exacto hermano. (Exactly, brother.)

• Méndez: Entonces que? Nos tiran bombas y vamos a matar un poco de gente. (So then what? They shoot bombs at us and we are going to kill a bunch of people.)

• Cárdenas: No hombre no. Tranquillo. No hay que matar a nadie. (No, man, no. You don't have to kill anyone.)

• Méndez: No pero ya si nosotros llevamos dos acá. Tenemos (stops) ... Aquí ahora mismo hay ocho policías secuestrados. (But we already have two (dead) here. We have (stops) Right now there are eight police officers kidnapped.)

• Cárdenas: Uh huh, ya. Pero maneja la situación bien. Nada de exceso. Tranquilo. (garbled) OK. (Uh huh. But manage the situation well. No excesses. Remain calm.)

• Méndez: Te llamo en la manana Pachi. (I'll call you in the morning, Pachi.)

• Cárdenas: Dale. (Do that.)

• (Conversation Ends)

Controversial Bombshell: This thing broke last night. The video was uploaded to YouTube on 11 July 2010, but people in Panama became generally aware of its existence yesterday afternoon. This morning the news channels were abuzz with commentary, questions, speculation, reactions, affirmations, and denials. In a town that simply loves political gossip, it really doesn't get any better than this. On the grand scale of "bochinche" - this one is off the charts.

Real, Or Not? The first question - Is this a real recording or a fabrication? PRD loyalists and defenders first came out and said the recording is a fake, fabricated by Martinelli loyalists to make the PRD and the union leaders look bad. The Panamanian media is still trying to figure out exactly how to deal with the situation. They are probably taking their time and treading lightly because so far they don't know what to believe or think. At this point the story is simply on the fact that the recording has been posted to the Internet. That it might be real or it might be a fake. I would suggest you take a listen and make up your own mind. In my humble opinion it sounds authentic.

Who Made The Recording? The government of Panama has the technological capability to record any cell phone conversation in Panama. If they get interested in you for whatever reason, they can just plug in your number and have any conversations to or from that number automatically recorded. Remember recently there was a change to a telecommunications law, requiring the cell phone companies to maintain a database of users? Every active cell phone number in the country is supposed to be associated with a name, a personal identification number (cedula or passport), as well as a physical location or address for the owner. The government implemented this requirement, justified by national security, saying that drug traffickers and organized crime elements are using cell phones to coordinate their activities. What matters - where the rubber hits the road - is that right now, today, the central government of Panama can simply plug a cell phone number into a computer somewhere, and all calls to or from that number are automatically recorded. Of course, and obviously, this kind of a technological capability is ripe for abuse, especially for political reasons. Does anything think for a second that the cellular telephone numbers of Francisco "Pachi" Sánchez Cárdenas and Saúl Méndez are not on that list? Of course they are. So, the government of Panama made the recording. No one else has the technological capability to do so easily and automatically.

It Can't Be Used: Governments often make recordings like this, even though there exist laws and prohibitions that supposedly protect the privacy of individuals. Here is how it normally works. Let's say there are two guys in Panama and law enforcement authorities suspect they are involved in drug trafficking. They start to monitor their phones to see what they are doing. Once they have confirmed that the two guys are in fact involved in drug trafficking, they conduct an official investigation and gather enough evidence (from other sources) to finally obtain an order from a judge that would allow then to legally record the conversations. Then, whatever is recorded after the judge's order is issued can be used as evidence in a court of law. The other "fishing" stuff cannot be used in a court of law. Like it or not, that's how it's done here. In the United States and other countries there are strict prohibitions in place that prevent this type of thing from happening. However, this is Panama. After the invasion of Panama in 1989, it was learned that every telephone line in the country ran through a building controlled by Noriega's intelligence agents on Fort Amador. This was the age before cell phones, and at the time they could select and record any telephone conversation in the country. Since then as the technology as advanced and improved, so has the country's ability to monitor the activities of their own citizens. The fact that they can do this should not be a surprise to anyone.

So, Why Leak It? President Ricardo Martinelli will conduct himself in a highly predictable manner. First of all, he will deny that the recording was made using government resources - because it they had done so then that would have been illegal. He will say "I have no idea where that came from" and "it was not us." However, they also know that most people who hear the recording will understand what it is, and the implications it represents. In this case the potential political value outweighs the need to protect the source. in 1986 US President Ronald Reagan released the content of a Telex message sent by the government of Libya to their Lybyan Embassy in East Berlin, congratulating them on a job well done after a bomb exploded at the La Belle discotheque in West Berlin, killing three US servicemen. President Reagan used that message as the "smoking gun" evidence which justified the subsequent bombing of Libya. In this case the recorded conversation between Francisco "Pachi" Sánchez Cárdenas and Saúl Méndez was probably considered to be the "smoking gun" evidence of close collaboration between the PRD and SUNTRACS. However, since they recorded the conversation while on a "fishing expedition" and not as the result of an order from a judge giving them authorization to do so - the only thing they could do is leak the tape and then deny all knowledge. You know, "Mission Impossible" stuff - we disavow all knowledge, like that...

State Your Premise: Ok, that takes care of where the recording came from, and why. Let's assume for the sake of argument that it's authentic. As a premise for the sake of argument and discussion, let's assume this is actually a clandestinely taped conversation between the President of the PRD and one of the primary leaders of the SUNTRACS labor union in Panama. Only one of the actors on the tape is identified by name - "Pachi" - who by all accounts is the President of the PRD Francisco "Pachi" Sánchez Cárdenas. But who is the other voice on the tape. Most of the commentary and reporting I've seen thus far say it's Saúl Méndez from the SUNTRACS, and that's why I identified the other speaker as "Méndez" in the transcript. However, to be fair, in the content of the recording that speaker is not identified by name. However I know this much. I know that whoever made the recording knew what numbers they were intercepting. I know that if this recording was "leaked" and pitched as a conversation between Saúl Méndez and Francisco "Pachi" Sánchez Cárdenas, then the chances are good that in fact they are the two speakers on the tape. Therefore, as part of the premise the identity of the speakers is also assumed or accepted, however since we don't have an absolutely clear or transparent source, there is a potential for error. Lastly, there is no "date/time stamp" on this recording. We don't know exactly when this conversation took place. Once again, the people who made the recording know, but as far as I can tell that information was not released as part of the "leak." We can tell from the content that it took place during the height of the riots in Bocas del Toro, that much is clear. OK, premise established. So, if this is a real conversation between these two men, then what does the content indicate?

Analysis Of The Content: Extrapolating from the basic premise that the tape is real and authentic, that it's a conversation between these two controversial national actors, and that they were discussing strategy during the banana riots in Changuinola, what does an analysis of the content indicate?

• Close Coordination: First of all, sometimes the most simple and basic elements are the most striking. This conversation indicates Saúl Méndez and pick up his cell phone, dial a number, it will be answered by the President of the PRD Francisco Sánchez Cárdenas, and the conversations starts with "Hey Pachi, are you at your house?" No introduction. No explanation. No need to say who was calling or why. Obviously this is not the first time these two people have spoken. There is an implied long standing relationship reflected in this simple and relatively short conversation. Which ends, by the way, with "I'll call you tomorrow." There is a 100% chance that all of these conversations, both before and after, were also recorded by the same people who recorded this one.

• "The Leadership Is Calling Me": The caller (supposedly Méndez) wants to confirm something. Actually this is the part of the conversation which indicates to me that the speaker might be someone other than Saúl Méndez. He says "the leadership is calling me" which could only mean SUNTRACS Secretary General Genaro López. I have always been under the impression that Genaro López and Saúl Méndez are practically equals within the SUNTRACS internal organization. I first listened to this conversation several times without knowing who this speaker was "supposed" to be. Only later did I read that it was supposed to be Saúl Méndez, and my first through was that it was probably someone else, some kind of a PRD labor union operative on the ground in Changuinola who was reporting back to his PRD political boss for guidance and instructions. But I didn't think it was Saúl Méndez.

• Strategy Coordination: The heart of the conversation revolves around the caller asking Francisco Sánchez Cárdenas for guidance, support, approval, and instructions. He indicates that the "leadership" is saying things are going to get worse, that the president (Martinelli) wants to start a dialog to negotiate and end to the problem, however they are refusing to participate in those talks. The "leadership" says they should stand firm and wait, that the PRD is going to come out to provide moral support. And, the caller wants to hear what "Pachi" has to say about that. Should he stand firm, or should they accept negotiations? "Pachi" tells him to stand firm.

• But What About The Two Dead Guys? The speaker then informs "Pachi" that "standing firm" means that a bunch of cops are going to get killed. He says their side (the protesters) have already had two people killed. He said there were (supposedly) eight police officers that had been kidnapped. Interestingly, he has a brief Freudian slip, when he starts to say "we have" (eight police officers), but then he quickly stops, corrects himself, and changes to the more politically correct and less criminally implicating "there are" (eight police officers that have been kidnapped). In other words, he says without saying that they could easily kill one or more of those guys as "payback" for the two men from the striking banana workers who were killed by police in the riots.

• Can You Hear The Pucker Factor? "Pachi" keeps his cool, and tries to control (Méndez.) He says to "remain calm." He says there's no need to kill anyone, to manage the situation well, and "Pachi" then practically orders (Méndez) to not commit any "excesses." In other words, don't do anything stupid. "Pachi" is obviously concerned that the situation could get out of control, and the SUNTRACS guys could easily kill two or more of the kidnapped police officers in retaliation. They end the conversation by agreeing to talk tomorrow.

Working Together Against Martinelli: If all of this is true, then the political implications are tremendous. It shows how the PRD is closely coordinating with these "labor union leaders" to create, manufacture, situations of chaos in the country. The PRD is apparently trying to stay behind the curtain and use their street troops - SUNTRACS and other radical elements - to cause political harm to their hated enemy Ricardo Martinelli.

This Explains A Lot: I've been wondering all weekend why the Deputy Attorney General had issued arrest warrants for 17 union and student leaders, all of the people who regularly and routinely cause problems and start violent protests in the country, over the weekend. That didn't make any sense at all. Why would Martinelli just go out willy-nilly to arrest activist Juan Jované at his house over the weekend? Answer - because they probably have taped conversations of him talking to and coordinating with SUNTRACS radicals as well. I suspect the government was about to embark on a campaign to prove that all of these activists are engaged in a huge national conspiracy - which would make them responsible for the deaths, injuries, and millions of dollars of damages. Remember the "fishing expedition" theory? Based on the recordings they already had, the government already knew what was going on, and they were going to springboard off of that information to build an actual case against all of these people. And who was the first person to show up on Juan Jované's doorstep to provide moral support? Balbina Herrera. Who came out on television on Monday morning to slam the actions of the government and to side with the strikers? Juan Carlos Navarro. There's the "PRD support" promised by "Pachi" in the conversation. Smoking gun...

Those Bastards: This whole thing makes me furious. It's bad enough when politicians act like the normal two-faced back-stabbing bastards that they are. However, when poor people are expertly manipulated through a coordinated campaign of lies and disinformation and riled up to the point where they charge the police lines - and take a face full of bird shot in the process - that is beyond criminal. It's morally reprehensible. Anyone who stands up to defend this bullshit should be - well, believe it or not I'm at a loss for words. Personally, I am outraged. And that's exactly why they released this tape. That's what they are counting on.

What Happens Now? More accusations, counter accusations, denials, speculation, rumors, damage control, true and false outrage and indignation - you name it. It's going to be a true cluster for a few days, that's for sure. Of course the "authorities" are not going to investigate anything. The "truth" is already known, but that won't come out in public. This tape and it's implications are going to sit there in the middle of the room like a big, fat, steaming pile of crap for the PRD to ponder for awhile. Thank God for politicians - they always give me something to write about. However, I hope someone takes the time to explain the truth of the situation to the poor banana worker who will now be blind for the rest of his life - made that way so some greedy union pricks - egged on by their political puppet masters - can continue to collect union dues. This whole thing makes me want to puke.

Copyright 2010 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.