Jorge Ricardo Fábrega, minister of the Gobierno, signs the
accord on behalf of the government while Silvia Carrera, the
cacique general, does the same to his right.
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Presidencia de Panamá photo
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Accord halts bloody protests
by natives in west Panamá
By the A.M. Newspapers
staff
(Feb. 8, 2012) The government of Panamá and unhappy native
residents have reached an accord that ends a week of protests,
blockades and bloodshed.
The accord opens the way for Costa Rica to lift its ban on land travel
to its neighbor to the south. This is expected today.
Meanwhile, some expats and tourists have taken to the sea to avoid the
closed border at Paso Canoas on the Pacific coast and Sixaola on the
Caribbean.
At least 24 tourists arrived from Panamá in three boats to
Manzanillo Tuesday, according to the security ministry.
The Presidencia in Panamá confirmed the accord Tuesday night.
The deal was brokered by José Luis Lacunza Maestrojuan, Roman
Catholic bishop of David and head of the Conferencia Episcopal
Panameña.
The protesting Ngöbes and Buglés peoples were represented
by Silvia Carrera, the cacique general or grand chief. The native
peoples agreed to cease their protests, and the government agreed to
reconsider a hydro power law that is now in the legislature.
The agreement took place in San Lorenzo in the province de
Chiriquí, said the Presidencia.
More than 500 Costa Ricans and travelers or other nationalities as well
as 300 trucks had been caught in the blockades on the Interamericana
highway on the Pacific side of Panamá. The protests lasted 200
hours, said the Presidencia. That is more than eight days.
One native university student, Jerónimo Rodriguez Tugrí,
known by the name Montezuma, died in a confrontation with
Policía Nacional Sunday, and several others have been reported
to have died since.
An expat resident of the area objected to A.M. Costa Rica's coverage of
police brutality and characterized the news stories as lies. “I live
here,” said Larry Traw of San Felix. “The Indians burned down the
police station and damaged the national bank. Destroyed personal
property, and the police did nothing until it got out of hand.
Your eyewitnesses are a bunch of liars. I don’t even believe you
have eyewitnesses. No armored vehicles. They should have
arrested them all.”
There were arrests, and, as part of the accord, the government of
Panamá has agreed to release them. The government also agreed to
provide urgent attention to those affected by the protest and to
provide permanent help to the family of Rodríguez and others
killed by police. The government also agreed to cease its repression
and not prosecute the demonstrators and others who participated in the
fighting.
The government also agreed to restore cell telephone service that has
been shut down to disrupt communications among the protesters. The
government also agreed to withdraw immediately anti-riot police and to
stop helicopter overflights.
Jorge Ricardo Fábrega, minister of the Gobierno, signs the
accord on behalf of the government while Silvia Carrera, the
cacique general, does the same to his right.
The Costa Rican security ministry said the foreigners who arrived by
boat Tuesday were U. S., Australia, German and Canadian citizens. The
Fuerza Pública transported them to Sixaola where they were to
have had their passports stamped with entry visas.
Informal travel between countries is illegal, but an immigration
official in Sixaola said that there would be no penalty given the
situation in Panamá. Celso Gamboa, security vice minister, said
the group that arrived on three boats were tourists traveling in
Panamá and who could not enter the country through a normal
route so they resorted to the improvised route.
Other tourists took water taxis from Bocas del Toro to the border where
they crossed normally, according to reports received by reporters.
A police officer in Talamanca said it is important that new arrivals
are checked through immigration so as to not encounter problems later
on by traveling within the country without an entry stamp in their
passports.
The Costa Rican travel ban prohibited anyone except Panamanian citizens
and permanent residents from crossing the border. Public buses also
were not running because of the blockade.
The Organization of American States and an expert on native rights from
the United Nations urged negotiations earlier Tuesday. The expert is
James Anaya, an Arizona professor who holds the title of special
rapporteur on indigenous rights. He urged an investigation into the
death of Rodríguez so that those responsible can be brought to
justice.
Meanwhile, representatives of the Emberá and Wounaan native
groups publicly denounced the lack of legalization for their lands and
said they would start their own protest movements in solidarity with
the Ngöbes and Buglés peoples, according to the United
Nations.
Supporters of the protesters in Panamá scheduled a demonstration
in San José this morning at that country's embassy. Tuesday
night it was not known if the protest here would take place.
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