A Hacker Said He Rigged the 2012 Mexican Election, and It May Still Be Happening Today

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Vice News

A Hacker Said He Rigged the 2012 Mexican Election, and It May Still Be Happening Today

By Oscar Balderas and Nathaniel Janowitz
April 1, 2016 | 2:15 pm

An imprisoned Colombian hacker, Andrés Sepúlveda, claims he fraudulently helped Enrique Peña Nieto win Mexico's 2012 presidential election, as well as manipulate elections in eight additional countries across Latin America.

Sepúlveda's interview with Bloomberg Businessweek caused a stir throughout Latin America, as well as the United States, particularly for the alleged involvement of Juan Jose Rendón, a Miami-based political consultant who, Bloomberg wrote, has been called the Karl Rove of Latin America for his dark influence on right-wing politics.

And according to the campaign manager for the candidate whom Peña Nieto beat, cybercrimes of the sort Sepúlveda alleged are still happening in Mexican politics.

The hacker claimed that Rendón hired him repeatedly to commit a wide variety of crimes to affect the outcomes of elections, including installing malware, hacking websites, creating fake profiles, and digitally spying on opposition candidates.

Read more: https://news.vice.com/article/hacker-mexico-latin-america-rendon-sepulveda-bloomberg-elections

[EdwardBernays]

1. It's fairly obvious

If you read the Bloomberg thing, that it's at least mostly true, or at the very least that that is the most likely truth.

And of course it's hard not to believe that billion dollar corporations aren't trying to tip the scales. Why wouldn't they? They certainly try and do that in business. And the government does it against corporations and other other governments.


So....

[msongs]

2. so if bernie wins its because he hacked the election lol nt

[LiberalElite]

16. His help isn't needed -

the DNC got this.

[forest444]

3. Beyond belief. This is why Macri wants to impose e-voting throughout Argentina.

Just as he did in Buenos Aires while he was mayor in 2015, the year his hand-picked successor "narrowly" beat the center-left candidate despite being behind in most polls.

Here's how he dealt with the local computer engineer who tried to blow the whistle:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026942187

[Judi Lynn]

5. Makes winning a lot easier, doesn't it?

The security pro who spoke up about Macri's Buenos Aires system had real courage. Hope he will be safe, that going public might have made him safer than if he had never spoken a word about it to anyone!

Thanks for your link. (I missed it completely when you originally posted it.)

[forest444]

6. Sure, Judi. If this becomes the norm in the U.S. we can kiss our democracy goodbye.

Here, and in any other country that adopts black box voting.

So much harm is being done to societies around the world in the name of "modernization." What was once a lofty goal has been turned into a veritable trojan horse.

The threat of electronic voting to democracy can't be overstated, and I'm glad you're keeping a lookout. We need more of this on DU I think.

[Festivito]

4. NPR had him on. He says it has to be happening in the US, and it is still happening in Mexico.

He said that the candidates know nothing. Their handlers know what candidates need to say.

We have noticed that Bernie's campaign had staffers shutting down volunteers, setting dates then cancelling, not allowing various things to happen. That's the kind of thing this guy was tired of doing.

[billhicks76]

7. Rove,Bush, Hillary

Last edited Sat Apr 2, 2016, 04:46 PM - Edit history (1)

Those are the names associated with it here. Electronic voting should just be banned. The tabulators that aggregate the voting machines are even a bigger problem.

[brooklynite]

9. Please provide a your evidence that the Clinton campaign is involved in electronic vote hacking

[billhicks76]

11. Pure Speculation

Last edited Sat Apr 2, 2016, 05:37 PM - Edit history (1)

AZ was hacked the day of. Could be anyone but republican malfeasance took place and takes place well in advance when it comes to voter registration. Now flipping votes is an entirely different baby and occurs through malware previously installed on voting machines. And voting machine tabulators that aggregate all the individual machines is even more threatening by orders of magnitude. Now the problem is we have no confidence in the electoral process anymore which should be the main point. And we all know the ones who benefit are the ones with big money, power and technology. Don't think us fools and don't yourself be naive. As far as Clinton goes, Bev Harris of BlackBoxVoting.org said in her Senate race she had 100% of the vote in some precincts and in some cases had more votes cast that voters than existed in those areas. Draw your own conclusions.

[brooklynite]

12. How about if I go with Bernie Sanders' conclusion?

No complaint filed alleging voting machine tampering; no demand for a recount or re-vote.

[billhicks76]

14. He Knows Better

Clintonians exploit questioning as sour grapes. Same tactic republicans always use. Better for him to look forward and let it go.

[brooklynite]

15. Ah "the ends justify the means"...

...No need to stand up for voting rights if it'll get in the way of winning, eh?

[billhicks76]

24. Asinine Comment

People like you piss me off. He's taking the high road. Lots of people do back-stabbing things in the world around me...calling them out all the time can backfire and look like you're sinking to their low. Sometimes its best to move on. Try and mature a little and understand that and stop making childish comments.

[brooklynite]

25. I would agree that complaining about petty politics is unproductive...

...but looking the other way on a clear violation of election law (as you claim)? That's unforgivable.

[billhicks76]

26. It's Too Hard To Prove Who

When I talked with members of the 1976 House Committee On Assassinations investigating the murders of JFK, RFK and MLK Congressman Louis Stokes from Ohio told me they determined without any doubt there was a right wing conspiracy that killed those men. There was more than enough evidence to implicate a group but not enough to convict any one person. If you dont have the proof down 100% it can be counterproductive to your final goals especially when the opposition always claims you're crying wolf. It's called politics for a reason.

[brooklynite]

27. "Rove, Bush, Hillary. These are the names associated with it here".

Perhaps you'd like to revise and extend your remarks?

[billhicks76]

28. Read Above Comments

McDonnel who set up computer systems for Rove was in his way to testify against him being the good Christian he was. Too bad his plane crashed right before the hearing. That's what I think of Bush and Rove. Hillary is close, intimate friends with Bush and Rove so draw your own conclusions. The rest is theater for the masses.

[geek tragedy]

19. So your imagination is your proof nt

[geek tragedy]

18. Hillary? no sane person believes that nt

[olddad56]

8. US 2000 and 2004 come to mind for me.

[Judi Lynn]

23. Like nightmares. Unimaginably dirty. n/t

[sofa king]

10. Is Juan Rendon "John Rendon" of the Rendon Group?

That would tie the last 16 years up in a nice bow, wouldn't it?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendon_Group

[Judi Lynn]

13. This posturing, pompous, hard-right, scheming, nasty, little putz has to be related in some way.

I believe he is more well known in the Americas as "J.J. Rendon."

[center]





He's between two radical, vicious right-wing South American Presidents he helped
into office, Honduras' Porfirio Lobos, and Colombia's Alvaro Uribe. Very bad company.
Those two people are beloved by the U S American right-wing, have bloody records.



[/center]
J.J. Rendon is Latin America's Karl Rove

Thursday, July 1, 2010 at 4 a.m.

By Tim Elfrink

A little before noon on a spring day, J.J. Rendón wakes up and dresses as usual in a Jedi-like black frock. He takes a drag on a cigarette and rubs sleep from his dark eyes. Golden statues line his shelves, and water burbles over a Buddhist shrine that's a centerpiece of his bayside condo in Brickell's Jade Residences, a 48-story tower with private elevators activated by thumbprint readers.

"My entire career, I've fought for democracy, equality, and civil rights," he says in a quiet, sandpaper voice. "That's made me unpopular in some circles."

Rendón is virtually unknown in Miami, where he lives in exile from his native Caracas, but he's become one of Latin America's most important political figures, a Karl Rove-esque gun-for-hire for right-leaning candidates from Mexico to Honduras, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, and Aruba.

His biggest triumph yet came last month in Colombia's presidential race, when he transformed a tightly knotted two-man race into a landslide victory for Juan Manuel Santos.

Rendón says he pulled off the win with shrewd management and a mastery of psychology. But Colombian journalists complain that his knack for gossip-mongering and engineering underground attacks — a skill that earned him the nickname "J.J. Rumor" — tainted the election.

More:
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/jj-rendon-is-latin-americas-karl-rove-6380975

[Octafish]

17. If you've seen one short fingered vulgarian, then you've seen them all.

Thank you for the fascinating peak into the cabron life of Sr. Rendon. Thanks to him, President Obama got to salute that made Macri guy just the other day.

So, I smell the Windy City. The author was a Chicago Boy helping implement one scam for Pinochet:

President Clinton and the Chilean Model.

By José Piñera

Midnight at the House of Good and Evil

"It is 12:30 at night, and Bill Clinton asks me and Dottie: 'What do you know about the Chilean social-security system?'” recounted Richard Lamm, the three-term former governor of Colorado. It was March 1995, and Lamm and his wife were staying that weekend in the Lincoln Bedroom of the White House.

I read about this surprising midnight conversation in an article by Jonathan Alter (Newsweek, May 13, 1996), as I was waiting at Dulles International Airport for a flight to Europe. The article also said that early the next morning, before he left to go jogging, President Bill Clinton arranged for a special report about the Chilean reform produced by his staff to be slipped under Lamm's door.

That news piqued my interest, so as soon as I came back to the United States, I went to visit Richard Lamm. I wanted to know the exact circumstances in which the president of the world’s superpower engages a fellow former governor in a Saturday night exchange about the system I had implemented 15 years earlier.

Lamn and I shared a coffee on the terrace of his house in Denver. He not only was the most genial host to this curious Chilean, but he also proved to be deeply motivated by the issues surrounding aging and the future of America. So we had an engaging conversation. At the conclusion, I ventured to ask him for a copy of the report that Clinton had given him. He agreed to give it to me on the condition that I do not make it public while Clinton was president. He also gave me a copy of the handwritten note on White House stationery, dated 3-21-95, which accompanied the report slipped under his door. It read:

Dick,
Sorry I missed you this morning.
It was great to have you and Dottie here.
Here's the stuff on Chile I mentioned.
Best,
Bill.

Three months before that Clinton-Lamm conversation about the Chilean system, I had a long lunch in Santiago with journalist Joe Klein of Newsweek magazine. A few weeks afterwards, he wrote a compelling article entitled,[font color="green"] "If Chile can do it...couldn´t North America privatize its social-security system?" [/font color]He concluded by stating that "the Chilean system is perhaps the first significant social-policy idea to emanate from the Southern Hemisphere." (Newsweek, December 12, 1994).

I have reasons to think that probably this piece got Clinton’s attention and, given his passion for policy issues, he became a quasi expert on Chile’s Social Security reform. Clinton was familiar with Klein, as the journalist covered the 1992 presidential race and went on anonymously to write the bestseller Primary Colors, a thinly-veiled account of Clinton’s campaign.

“The mother of all reforms”

While studying for a Masters and a Ph.D. in economics at Harvard University, I became enamored with America’s unique experiment in liberty and limited government. In 1835 Alexis de Tocqueville wrote the first volume of Democracy in America hoping that many of the salutary aspects of American society might be exported to his native France. I dreamed with exporting them to my native Chile.

So, upon finishing my Ph.D. in 1974 and while fully enjoying my position as a Teaching Fellow at Harvard University and a professor at Boston University, I took on the most difficult decision in my life: to go back to help my country rebuild its destroyed economy and democracy along the lines of the principles and institutions created in America by the Founding Fathers. Soon after I became Secretary of Labor and Social Security, and in 1980 I was able to create a fully funded system of personal retirement accounts. Historian Niall Ferguson has stated that this reform was “the most profound challenge to the welfare state in a generation. Thatcher and Reagan came later. The backlash against welfare started in Chile.”

But while de Tocqueville’s 1835 treatment contained largely effusive praise of American government, the second volume of Democracy in America, published five years later, strikes a more cautionary tone. He warned that “the American Republic will endure, until politicians realize they can bribe the people with their own money.” In fact at some point during the 20th century, the culture of self reliance and individual responsibility that had made America a great and free nation was diluted by the creation of [font color="green"] “an Entitlement State,”[/font color] reminiscent of the increasingly failed European welfare state. What America needed was a return to basics, to the founding tenets of limited government and personal responsibility.

[font color="green"]In a way, the principles America helped export so successfully to Chile through a group of free market economists needed to be reaffirmed through an emblematic reform. I felt that the Chilean solution to the impending Social Security crisis could be applied in the USA.[/font color]

CONTINUED...

http://www.josepinera.org/articles/articles_clinton_chilean_model.htm

It's like an Empire or something, but all legal-like.

[Judi Lynn]

21. So sickening to realize that the affair did citizens a favor by impeding his intentions on Soc. Sec.

This is a horrific thing to learn after so many years of complete ignorance on where and how he stood on elemental issues.

Surely good to have read your link, am even more convinced we need wildly new, trustworthy, wiser direction from a far cleaner person at the helm.

Exactly like an Empire, after all. The more you learn, the less there is to like. Hoping for the change we need.

Thank you, so much, Octafish.

[paulthompson]

20. This is so very, very distressing!

Why the hell can't all voting be done with paper ballots? Then we've got a paper trail in case of recounts or whatever. There should be no doubt that our election system is secure!

Remember just after the 2012 election, how Obama promised to take care of the long voting lines and other problems? Oh yeah, he never did anything. And don't blame Republican obstruction. He didn't even talk about it again or try to make it an issue.

[Judi Lynn]

22. Nothing like physical, perceptible, touchable paper ballots, and CLEAN people to count them.

Will it ever be possible, again?

We can surely afford the wait involved in allowing time between the vote and the results in order to get honest elections, if we can ditch the filthy "legal" bribery.

[MrMickeysMom]

29. K&R!

Funny.... Not once in the brainstorming of SS reform did it occur to actually raise the cap. Nor did it occur that maybe low income workers maybe need a stronger wage.

Thanks for this review of actual history.

[Judi Lynn]

30. How to Hack an Election

How to Hack an Election

April 2, 2016By Taegan Goddard

Andres Sepulveda tells Bloomberg he rigged major political campaigns over a period of eight years in Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras, El Salvador, Colombia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Venezuela.

“With a budget of $600,000, the Peña Nieto job was by far his most complex. He led a team of hackers that stole campaign strategies, manipulated social media to create false waves of enthusiasm and derision, and installed spyware in opposition offices, all to help Peña Nieto, a right-of-center candidate, eke out a victory.”

Now serving 10 years in prison in Colombia, Sepulveda is telling his story in hopes of a reduced sentence.

On the question of whether the U.S. presidential campaign is being tampered with, he is unequivocal: “I’m 100 percent sure it is.”

https://politicalwire.com/2016/04/02/how-to-hack-an-election/

(Short article, no more at link.)