The Ngöbe people living along the Changuinola River in Panama have been facing the destruction of their villages, farms, food supply, access to clean water, and way of life as a result of the government of Panama’s decision to build a hydroelectric dam on their river.  The government contracted with AES-Changuinola, a subsidiary of the Virginia-based energy giant AES Corp., to not only build the dam but also to manage the relocation of the Ngobe people whose homelands will be flooded.

Cultural Survival Executive Director Ellen Lutz was in Washington November 2 for a hearing at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights regarding Panama's violation of the rights of Ngobe people by constructing a dam on their territory. The hearing was held at the request of Panama, which apparently hoped to justify its support of the dam project.

We just received word that our petition with the Ngobe people of Panama has passed another hurdle at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The Ngobe are fighting a dam being built on their land by a partnership between the government of Panama and a subsidiary of the American energy giant AES.

In a 17-page brief filed in June, the government of Panama made clear its refusal to heed the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights demand that it suspend all work on the Chan-75 hydroelectric dam that is destroying the homes, territory, and way of life of Panama’s Ngöbe communities living in the Changuinola River valley.

The situation in Ngöbe communities abutting the Chan-75 hydroelectric dam construction site remains tense, notwithstanding the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights’ (IACHR) decision on June 17, 2009 calling on the government of Panama to immediately suspend construction and to guarantee the personal integrity and freedom of movement of the Ngöbe inhabitants in the area.

Washington, D.C.—After two years of brutal government repression and destruction of their homeland, the Ngöbe Indians of western Panama won a major victory yesterday as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights called on Panama to suspend all work on a hydroelectric dam that threatens the Ngöbe homeland. The Chan-75 Dam is being built across the Changuinola River by the government of Panama and a subsidiary of the Virginia-based energy giant AES Corporation.