Alfredo José Anzola Jaumotte (11 June 1974 – 28 April 2008) was a founder and the former CFO[1] of Smartmatic, a multinational electronic voting company. Anzola was one of the architects of the SBC consortium,[2][3] a strategic alliance between Smartmatic, the Bitza Corporation[4][5][6][7] and Venezuela's telephone provider, CANTV, for managing the technology platform of elections in Venezuela.[8]
Alfredo José Anzola Jaumotte | |
|---|---|
| Born | 11 June 1974 |
| Died | 28 April 2008 (aged 33) |
| Alma mater | Andrés Bello Catholic University |
| Occupation(s) | Founder and former CFO of Smartmatic |
Early life
editAlfredo José Anzola was born on 11 June 1974.[9] His father was Alfredo Anzola Mendez,[10] and his mother was Christina Jaumotte de Galavís.[11] He was a grandson of Alfredo Anzola Montauban, a prestigious end affluent engineer, university professor and writer, who had a mixed Venezuelan-French ascent.
Alfredo José was childhood friends[10][3] with Antonio Mugica, with whom he founded Smartmatic in 2000.
Education
editAlfredo José Anzola held a degree in Industrial Engineering from Andrés Bello Catholic University.[1] He also began[1] the TRIUM Global Executive MBA program which is offered jointly by the New York University Stern School of Business, the London School of Economics and the HEC School of Management, Paris.
Panagroup Corporation
editIn 1997,[12] Alfredo José Anzola, along with Antonio Mugica and Roger Piñate,[13] began collaborating in a group while working at Panagroup Corporation[14] in Caracas, Venezuela.[15][16][17][18][19]
Founding of Smartmatic
editSmartmatic was officially incorporated on 11 April 2000 in Delaware by Alfredo José Anzola.[20][21][22] Smartmatic was then a fledgling technology start-up. Its registered address was the Boca Raton, Florida.
Financial success
editIn March 2005,[23] with a windfall of some $120 million from its first three contracts with Venezuela, Smartmatic then bought the much larger and more established Sequoia Voting Systems, which by 2006 had voting equipment installed in 17 states and the District of Columbia.[23]
Death after plane crash
editOn Monday, 28 April 2008, about 14:25 universal coordinated time (UTC), a Piper PA-31-310, N6463L, was destroyed during impact with residences,[24][9][11] shortly after takeoff from the Simón Bolívar International Airport, Maiquetía, Venezuela. The certificated airline transport pilot, two passengers, and five people on the ground were fatally injured. The flight was destined for Hato Airport (TNCC), Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles.[9] According to preliminary information from the Junta Investigadora de Accidentes de Aviacion (JIAA) of Venezuela, the pilot reported a loss of engine power after takeoff, and attempted to return to the departure airport. During the return, the airplane impacted several buildings in a residential area, and a post crash fire ensued.[9]
On board the plane were the pilot, Mario Jose Donadi,[9] a convicted drug-trafficker[8][25] in both the United States and Venezuela; Smartmatic employee Eduardo Ramirez,[9] a lawyer and consultant for the firm,[11] and Alfredo José Anzola.[9] A lawyer of the company, Carolina Caruso,[11] recalled that a Smartmatic shareholders' meeting was to be held that day in Curaçao,[11] where the company was registered. As there were no direct flights that morning, the plane had been hired by the Smartmatic company to make a charter flight to Curaçao.[11]
After the plane crash, the Governor of the State of Miranda, Diosdado Cabello Rondón, arranged for Anzola's transfer from a local hospital to one in Caracas.[26] The Minister of the Interior, Ramón Rodríguez Chacín, also traveled to the Rafael Medina Jiménez Hospital (a.k.a. Periférico de Pariata, state of Vargas) to ascertain Anzola's health.[24] However, Alfredo José Anzola died at an area hospital.[24]
References
edit- ^ a b c "SMARTMATIC_Team". 14 February 2008. Archived from the original on 14 February 2008. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
- ^ "Smartmatic, Bizta and CANTV formalize SBC Consortium – Smartmatic". Smartmatic.com. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
- ^ a b Ellsworth, Brian (20 July 2004). "A Crucial Vote for Venezuela and a Company". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 20 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
- ^ Brand, Richard (20 April 2004). "Untried Fla. Vote Device to Debut in Venezuela". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
- ^ Brand, Richard; Chardy, Alfonso (28 May 2004). "Venezuela owns stake in ballots". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on 3 June 2004.
- ^ Brand, Richard (12 June 2004). "Voting-system Firm Drops Venezuela as an Investor". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
- ^ Dudley, Steven; Gunson, Phil (19 August 2004). "Chávez Foes Boycott Audit, Urge Tests of Vote Machines". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
- ^ a b "Voting system creator dies in plane crash". Miami Herald. 1 May 2008. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g Ranter, Harro. "Accident Piper PA-31-310 Navajo N6463L, 28 Apr 2008". aviation-safety.net. Archived from the original on 21 November 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
- ^ a b Chardy, Alfonso (28 October 2006). "U.S. digs for vote-machine links to Hugo Chavez". Miami Herald. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f Mayorca, Javier Ignacio (1 May 2008). "Avión volaba para Smartmatic". El Nacional. Venezuela.
- ^ "SMARTMATIC_History". Smartmatic. 15 August 2004. Archived from the original on 15 August 2004. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
Seven years ago we were the Research and Development Unit of Panagroup in Venezuela
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Roger Piñate – Smartmatic". Smartmatic.com. Archived from the original on 31 October 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
- ^ "< Nuestra Historia >". 5 July 2008. Archived from the original on 5 July 2008. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
- ^ Esplanada, Jerry E. (5 February 2015). "Row over Smartmatic deal continues to rage". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
Smartmatic's history in Venezuela dates back to 1997
- ^ "2001 technology awards: Smartmatic Corp". Business Journal. 22 (4): 15B. 7 September 2001.
- ^ Hernandez, Sandra (9 July 2004). "Boca Raton, Fla., electronic voting system maker gambles on Venezuela vote". Knight Ridder Tribune Business News.
- ^ "Smartmatic siempre lleva su 'sanbenito', incluso en EEUU". Runrunes. 10 November 2016. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
- ^ Tiglao, Rigoberto D. (1 December 2015). "US Caracas Embassy: 'Smartmatic is a riddle'". The Manila Times. Archived from the original on 22 May 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
- ^ "Division of Corporations – Filing – SMARTMATIC CORPORATION". State of Delaware – Division of Corporations. State of Delaware. Archived from the original on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
- ^ "Foreign Profit – SMARTMATIC CORPORATION". State of Delaware. Archived from the original on 12 November 2005. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
- ^ "A Crucial Vote for Venezuela and a Company" Archived 7 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine New York Times. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
- ^ a b Golden, Tim (29 October 2006). "U.S. Investigates Voting Machines' Venezuela Ties". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 19 March 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
- ^ a b c Rangel, Anthony (29 April 2008). "Avioneta Cae Sobre Vivienda en Vargas". El Universal (Caracas). Archived from the original on 30 April 2008.
- ^ Carr, Kelly; Dowdell, Jaimi; Abelson, Jenn. "Flight plan for Failure, Part 2 of 2". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
- ^ Reyes, Gerardo (30 April 2008). "Perece en un accidente aéreo fundador de firma Smartmatic". El Nuevo Herald. pp. A4.
