Photo by Robin Oisín Llewellyn

By Lawrence Reichard

Getting to the Indigenous hamlet of Kia in the Panamanian province of Chiriqui is no walk in the park.  First you gotta get to the hot, steamy town of Tole, about six hours west by bus from Panama City.  That’s the easy part. Then you ride for the better part of a half-hour in the bed of - or very precariously hanging off the back of - a pickup truck as it crashes over a “road” that would kill my Civic back home dead in a New York minute.  

By Richard Arghiris, published at Intercontinental Cry

An indigenous Ngäbe protester, Onesimo Rodriguez, was killed  Friday 22 March 2013 in the hamlet of Las Nubes, Chiriquí province, after attending a rally against the controversial Barro Blanco hydroelectric dam. It was World Water day.

Originally posted on Intercontinental Cry
By Robin Llewellyn 

On April 3, President Martinelli signed into law a bill that reestablishes the validity of Mineral Resource Mining Code, established in 1963 but which had been abolished by the Martinelli government in 2011. The code defines who may hold and profit from mining concessions in Panama, and establishes sanctions for those who continue mining projects without authorization.

Ngöbe-Bugle leaders and Panama government officials reached an agreement last week that bans all mining in the Ngöbe-Bugle territory and requires community approval for any hydro-electric projects. The agreements were formed into the Special Law 415 and was debated at the National Assembly and approved during its second reading, yesterday.  

The Ngöbe people issued an urgent appeal for solidarity from the international community yesterday after Panama police forces launched a violent attack on protesters, killing at least one person and injuring many more.  Ngöbe protesters have blockaded the Pan-American highway since last Monday in opposition to a proposed mining law that would open their traditional lands to mining and hydroelectric development.