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opinion

Also in this section:
Delarge, Why not build a road through the Darien?
Hassan, Double standards about nepotism?
Jackson, Wolfowitz, a tougher guy in a weaker World Bank
Weisbrot, The World Bank's problems go well beyond Wolfowitz
Kozloff, Venezuela and the oil weapon
Revenga, The world's growing water crisis
Noriega, Customs modernization
Avnery, Splitting Sharon from the settlers
Leis, Public confidence in the law is at stake
Bernal, Judicial and legislative scandals

It would devastate the environment. Darien National Park is the legacy of humanity. You only have to see what has happened in the part of the Pan-American Highway that's already built in Panama. It has been deforested and cattle have been introduced on an extensive scale, which exhausts the soil.

Colombia is a country of more than 42 million inhabitants, with much poverty, in which corruption and violence have been deeply embedded for more than 40 years. The guerrillas, the paramilitaries and the drug traffickers move and operate along Colombia's border areas. The Colombian Army, though it may be a professional armed force and may count upon many resources and other support from the United States, has not been able to eradicate these evils.

Without the existence of a highway, the number of undocumented Colombians in Panama is conservatively estimated at more than 100,000. This is something that could be multiplied tenfold if a direct highway to Colombia is opened. Among these illegal immigrants there are honest people, but also drug traffickers, hit men, guerrillas and lowlifes. This is unacceptable and in fact the Panamanian government should demand visas of all Colombians who enter Panama. They have to put an end to this misgovernment and start to protect national interests. We are a very small country and we don't have the luxury of letting the prestige that we have acquired on the international level in the past decade be stained and shredded by crimes and acts of violence. In recent years there have been murders and violent deaths of a sort never before seen in Panama, in which Colombian criminals have been involved. This violence drives away foreign investment. We are a country with a service economy and we have to take care of what we have if we want a stable economy. We are a peaceful society that has never seen levels of violence like those which prevail in Colombia.

Intelligence reports by various governments indicate that the Darien is a danger zone, due to its proximity to Colombia. By opening a highway these reports will not only say that the Darien is a danger zone, but they'd have to mention that all of the Republic of Panama is a danger zone. That would drive away tourism and foreign investment.

To build a Panama-Colombia highway wouldn't from any point of view be of any benefit to the Republic of Panama.

The points of view expounded here have nothing to do with xenophobia. We simply have to guarantee the security of this country and protect the interests of all Panamanians.

Also in this section:
Delarge, Why not build a road through the Darien?
Hassan, Double standards about nepotism?
Jackson, Wolfowitz, a tougher guy in a weaker World Bank
Weisbrot, The World Bank's problems go well beyond Wolfowitz
Kozloff, Venezuela and the oil weapon
Revenga, The world's growing water crisis
Noriega, Customs modernization
Avnery, Splitting Sharon from the settlers
Leis, Public confidence in the law is at stake
Bernal, Judicial and legislative scandals