Panama Rejects Jungle Highway Due to Eco, Culture Concerns

Lorne Matalon in Panama City, Panama
for National Geographic News

October 14, 2005

Photo Gallery: Battle Over the Darién Gap >>

Panamanian officials are resisting pressure to build a road through a pristine wilderness straddling North and South America.

Indigenous leaders and environmentalists are pleased, saying a road through the Darién Gap, so named because of the gap it represents in the Pan-American Highway, would threaten biodiversity in the region and open it up to increased violence and drug trafficking.

But they stress that Panama's rejection is only guaranteed through 2009, the end of the current Panamanian president's five-year term.

During a recent meeting in Panama of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), Colombian President Alvaro Uribe publicly called for construction of a road to connect his nation with Panamanian and North American markets.

"Sooner or later the road must be built," Uribe said. "We want it built in this generation so that we can travel the road and not have to see it from heaven," meaning after his lifetime.

Uribe says a road would mitigate the economic ravages of a decades-long conflict in his country by allowing Colombian goods to move north at less cost.

"I am hoping public opinion in Panama can be changed," Uribe said, referring to polls that show Panamanians are solidly against the idea.

Colombian Appeal Rejected

Panama's president, Martin Torrjos, has spoken out forcefully against the proposal.

"I won't make any decision on the road during my term," he said. "We have many questions that must be answered before we can even think of building a road."

Previously Torrijos had said he would "study the request."

At the same time, Torrijos is discussing the construction of an oil and gas pipeline through the Darién in partnership with Colombia and Venezuela. If the project is undertaken, environmentalists say, roads to service the pipeline would also be built.

Torrijos declined comment on that possibility.

Meanwhile, many local leaders remain skeptical that a road will not be built.

Panama's Commissioner of Population and the Environment, Melcides Concepcion, said a road through the Darién Gap is "inevitable."

Concepcion's words carry weight. He is a member of the National Assembly, Panama's top legislative body, and he represents the country's largest electoral district, San Miguelito.

"There is no question a road will one day cross the Darién," he said. "We have not discussed the issue on an official basis in the National Assembly, so I only offer my personal opinion. But I think a road will be constructed."

"Connecting the nations of Latin America is important for economic reasons," Concepcion said. "And a road would help the development of the Darién."

But Concepcion added, "We will only consent to a road if the Darién's biodiversity can also be protected."

Those working to permanently block the plan say such a conservation goal cannot be guaranteed.

Indigenous Concerns

Efraim Mambache is a leader of the Wounaan, one of the region's two principal indigenous groups. His people are caught in a constant struggle between Colombia's warring factions.

Colombia's nominally right-wing paramilitaries and left-wing guerrillas known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), clash frequently in the region. Both groups use the jungles of the Darién as a refuge.

In response, Panama's Border Police are conducting increased airborne operations in the Darién. Armed helicopters patrol the 60-mile-wide (100-kilometer-wide) swath of green that marks Panama's border with Colombia.

"We have been told our mission is a national priority," one helicopter pilot said.

Crews have been ordered to intercept armed guerrillas or paramilitaries they encounter. They are also looking for drug traffickers who use the area's strategic location as a trans-shipment point.

Both FARC and the paramilitaries acquire weapons using funds amassed through drug trafficking.

Recently paramilitaries killed four of Mambache's neighbors, accusing them of collaborating with FARC.

In another incident, FARC guerrillas burned and stole several piraguas, or long dugout canoes, from Mambache's village along the Rio Tuira.

In an area without roads, piraguas are a critical mode of transport—without them, the Wounaan and their ethnic cousins, the Embera, cannot travel far. Carving a single piragua takes months.

Indigenous leaders note violence is a fact of life without a road. But the Wounaan and the Embera are convinced a road would make it easier for guerrillas and paramilitaries to move through Panama.

"We appreciate [Torrijos's] words," Mambache said. But, he added, "as soon as Torrijos leaves office, who knows what will happen? Without a road, our problems are severe. With a road, they will worsen. Of that we are certain."

Security Issue

The issue of security is of paramount importance right now in Panama. Along with more airborne patrols in the Darién, the government is increasing patrols along the Panama Canal, a waterway critical to the nation's income.

Last month Panama, the U.S., and Chile conducted joint patrols in the Canal Zone, which was controlled by the U.S. until 1999. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Panama has redoubled efforts to secure its borders.

Some observers believe the canal's position at the meeting point of two continents and two oceans makes it a potential target for terrorism.

Hernan Arauz, a leading authority on the Darién, said, "Terrorism is already a part of life in the Darién. We need to take this issue off the table permanently, beyond the current administration.

"Securing the canal is no different than securing the Darién," he continued. "Both areas are central to our national identity."

Interpreter Raymond Mizrachi in Panama contributed to this report.

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