economy special

October 11 marked a decisive date in the ongoing struggle against hydroelectric dam projects in this country. A small group from Bankwatch, the coalition of European non-governmental organizations that oversees how loans from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and other financial entities worldwide are actually employed, arrived in our nation to see for themselves how Panama could account for third place in the bank's foreign loans.

Besides the financing required by the gargantuan Panama Canal expansion project, their eyes were also focused on two projects in the Interior; one was the Dos Mares megaproject in Gualaca consisting of three separate dam projects (Gualaca, Lorena and Prudencia) which have decimated highly productive farmland and indiscriminately flooded communities, including Higueron, where households and schools have sustained considerable damages. The other was the legendary Tabasara I project --- now called Barro Blanco --- which will affect Ngabe and Bugle villages along the Tabasara River's banks.

It's said that General Omar Torrijos once told the indigenous Tabasara population that if they wished not to have this dam constructed --- then it would not be. Perhaps not coincidentally, our visiting group reached the Tabasara area precisely on October 11, the anniversary of the 1968 military coup that brought Torrijos to power. We were taken to the communities in the Ngabe Bugle Comarca (a semi-autonomous region for the Ngabe and Bugle indigenous nations) alongside the banks of the Tabasara River, within areas to be flooded. Here the project's promoter, GENISA, had misrepresented in its environmental impact statement that there were no communities to be impacted by the Barro Blanco project.

In fact, our group visited three districts within the Tabasara region. We confirmed that altogether there are up to 5,000 indigenous inhabitants affected by this project within communities such as Nuevo Palomar, home to the region's official elementary school (which will be flooded). Here our guide and the leader of the April 10 Movement to Defend the Tabasara (M10), Italo Jimenez, declared the people along the Tabasara were not only against the Barro Blanco project, but also against the infamous Cerro Colorado mining project which would impact directly the Tabasara River by polluting one of its tributaries, the Cuvibora River. Other speakers, such as Leidis Rodríguez, explained how the communities were kept in the dark, especially when the company held their public consultation. Fliers were sent only to inhabitants in the town of Tole, while the indigenous communities were kept uninformed. Eventually they found out and flocked outside the meeting. Then company spokesmen simply said it was an "informal" meeting with no binding terms.

The European guests also visited Quebrada Caña, where they were treated with the traditional chicha de maiz corn beverage. One of the elders explained the Mama Tata philosophy and had a small child recite to us the written Ngabere language with its own characteristic writing, totally unlike the familiar alphabet we know. The community leader, Manolo Miranda, was eloquent in his defense of the traditional Indian way of life and how these projects would constitute a major disruption in their lives.

Soon after the Bankwatch visit, the EIB's ombudsman informed the groups opposing the dams of a fact-finding trip to the area to verify whether GENISA was actually telling them the truth. GENISA suddenly withdrew their request for financing, according to unofficial reports that dam opponents obtained. (As yet there has been no official confirmation from the bank itself.) In any case, the Barro Blanco threat is not over. The promoters can seek other, less scrupulous, financial backers.

It does seem that the company is determined to continue. The promoter's machinery was busily at work along the Tabasara's banks last July (also indicating that the company had other funding) until the owner of the property --- backed by the community and the indigenous population --- finally closed the access road to the project. The company's concession expires in three months and GENISA apparently intends to break into the river banks during dry season regardless of formalities.

GENISA's business plan is to obtain carbon credits (now called CERS) from the UN Clean Development Mechanism. However, they cannot be eligible for these if there is no project.