The Eagle has landed. But although he has flown here on borrowed wings, it's his sensitive and highly trained nose that brings him here, to bring us answers to questions that have obscured our triumphs, tied up our democracy and left many families painfully shredded: Where are our disappeared?
Eagle, a dog who has been trained to sniff out the remains of murder victims, is on another mercy mission to our country.
Just as indigenous shamans conjure up the jungle's animal spirits to guide them through the world, Panamanians who want to shed light on the dark mysteries of the disappearances place their faith in this extraordinary animal to use its nature and training to find those who in their times were adored fathers, beloved brothers, close friends, good neighbors and excellent human beings.
When the lunar landing module touched down that day in 1969, marking a milestone in human history, the event was announced with these words: "The Eagle has landed."
And the world waited with bated breath during the seconds during which the arrival of the electronic transmission was delayed to hear that a mission that had seemed so unlikely had been accomplished: mankind had arrived on the moon to discover its mysteries.
For Panamanians, it in a way presaged the revelation of many things --- what had been to us numbers buried among multicolored pages, or the gauzy subjects of dreams, doesn't go unperceived by this extraordinary dog who bears the name of a bird with legendarily perceptive eyes, and which also appears on our national seal to represent the nation's majesty: the eagle. But this time, Eagle arrives under threat. Somebody, possibly a person with a direct interest in making sure that the crimes remain unpunished, has sent a letter threatening Eagle and his trainer. The FBI has offered to protect them while they're in Panama, but their protection is surely a matter of national pride for us.
Nothing must come between the remains that cry out for justice and this dog and its trainer.
Bone by bone, piece by piece, we will unearth the buried truth, bringing the sordid past to light and making sense of the tragedy. That is the path we must follow.
Although it's just a pile of bones that have to be identified, we have reason to hope. Science advances. In the few days during which Eagle searched Tocumen, Cerro Azul, Panama Viejo, the National Air Service, Coiba Island, Rio Sereno and La Mata, it was only possible to find a fragment of what we want to know.
Where are the disappeared? Eagle can give us the answer. Under the earth, their bones stir and call to us. Their essence remains.
They gave us everything they had, and for that they were taken away, deprived of their futures, their promises, their identities. Now we must rescue everything of them that we can, because by doing that, we save ourselves and posterity from the possibility that this might be repeated.
The can only totally disappear if they are forgotten.
Thus we must continue to ask, until the questions are answered.
