The government of President Mireya Moscoso of Panama is not known for its transparency. However, a recent measure to place the control over the Coiba National Park in the hands of a few individuals goes beyond decency even by Latin American standards. At stake is the potential destruction of one of the world's top marine sites and the misappropriation of approximately one-eighth of Panama's territory.

Coiba National Park, a set of islands located in the Pacific Ocean near the Costa Rican border, is a jewel of nature that survived the twentieth century unscathed because of a mere accident in history: people were afraid to get near its waters because it had a prison. Coiba thus boasts a marine life as great as that of the nearby Galapagos Islands, and it is on its way to becoming a UNESCO world heritage site as part of a corridor that runs from the Cocos Islands in Costa Rica all the way to the Galapagos in Ecuador. Lured by its marine diversity, organizations such as Woods Hole Institute, the Smithsonian Institute, the Avena Foundation, and Conservation International have all recently decided to establish sites there, and Coiba has already generated a cult following among marine enthusiasts.

If preserved, Coiba could become one of Panama's greatest sources of wealth, second only to the Panama Canal. Low impact tourism, scientific research, and other sources of jobs and growth could ensure a steady income for generations. One only needs to look at what the Galapagos bring to Ecuador and Coco Islands to Costa Rica to see the potential for massive revenues. If destroyed by over- fishing or unsustainable development, however, it will be of value only to a few developers and corrupt politicians for a few years, and then everyone will forget it, just like Contadora, the island off the cost of Panama which became a hotbed of high-level diplomatic summits in the 70s and 80s, but which today is in decay.

This is why a conservation law was sought and proposed before the National Assembly to give the park a more sound legal status than the Presidential decree that created it in 1993. Two sets of laws have been proposed during the last two years limiting development --- other than low impact tourist projects --- and prohibiting such things as commercial fishing and timber exploitation. However, the President vetoed the first law proposed by the opposition political party, and refused to send to the National Assembly a second law proposed by her own Environmental Protection Agency, ANAM. No one knew why, until a month ago when the Executive pulled out of the hat a bill that basically undoes any attempts at conservation and makes a mockery of the rule of law.

The bill proposes to create a council to administer the park made up of seven government officials who get to make all the important decisions by majority vote. Their express powers include the authority to grant concessions for fishing, timber extraction, hotel development, and anything else that matters. In fact, they could decide that conservation is not important at all. In granting these concessions, there are no guidelines they have to follow, no rules, no due process, no participation by conservationists, NGOs or concerned people, no limitations on their decisions, and no appeals.

Of the seven offices represented in the council, only one office has knowledge or interest in conservation, ANAM, and the rest are charged with promoting growth and development: Industry and Commerce, Ports and Maritime Authority, Tourism, Agricultural Development, Finance, among others. Thus, in the name of conservation this bill introduces a naked and draconian "exploitation" regime without standards.

The legal instability that this bill creates is likely to deter scientific research, grants, and foreign investments in low impact sustainable tourism not only in Coiba but in Panama. This instability is likely to translate into the loss of millions of dollars in investments and hundreds if not thousands of jobs over the next few years. Who in his right mind is going to invest in, lets say, a low impact tourism project to take visitors to see sharks in Coiba, when the group of seven, for good or bad reasons, can grant concessions to fish all the sharks? What are the rules of the game? Also, the opportunity for the council members to demand a "mordida" in exchange for granting a concession given the open ended regime is, needless to say, unlimited. In fact, they could grant the concessions to themselves.

As if this wasn't enough, of the seven people charged with the administration of the park, three are related to Augusto "Onassis" Garcia, a close adviser to President Moscoso who is allegedly involved in many --- shady --- government deals: his daughter, the head of Maritime Authority, his wife's nephew, the Minister of Government and Justice, and his relative, the Minister of Finance. Given that Moscoso's term in office is over in 14 months, no one in Panama believes that these individuals are rushing the bill into law because they have a plan for the park which they would like to introduce before their term of office is over. It is easier to believe that that they realize they only have 14 months to negotiate the sale of Coiba, perhaps to themselves or their friends.

Unlike neighbors such as Costa Rica, who are trying to position themselves as ecologically correct countries in order to lull foreign investment and tourism, the theft of Coiba will guarantee that Panama will get a bad image and reputation internationally for years. There are websites dedicated to Coiba, and people from all over the world are dreading what might happen if this law passes. Already the head of a world- renowned NGO with substantial backings from Hollywood and the highest political circles told me personally that they are ready to pack their bags and leave Panama. This bad image may take years if not a generation to repair, and will result in the loss of foreign investments, tourism and jobs.

If the Executive were to propose that a council made up of the same individuals manage the exploitation of the Panama Canal, the whole country would be up in arms. No one would trust the Executive's intention or the individuals involved. Given the natural resources of the Coiba National Park, which occupies about 1/8th of the national territory and potentially could generate as much revenues as tourism around the Canal, the response should be the same.

However, the opposition political party and the general population is doing nothing about it because the law is being sold as a "conservation" measure, when in fact it creates a naked and draconian "exploitation" regime. Also, since the law came in the form of a "paquetazo" and it is being pushed through in the Assembly in less than one month, it guarantees that there will be no real public debate. More importantly, the current Panamanian leadership, including the government and opposition party leaders, do not view conservation as a high priority. They are myopic in failing to see what other countries realize: that conservation is good business, that it has tremendous direct and indirect short and long term economic benefits.

In this respect, we have to congratulate Moscoso's Cabinet for doing what greedy and unscrupulous Wall Street bankers call "The Kill:" calmly lulling the prey onto the couch, and then totally raping them.


The author is a lawyer and a writer