US embassy cable - 05PANAMA2038

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PANAMA 002038 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF, PREL, PM 
SUBJECT: PANAMA:  UNHCR - AID EFFORTS UPSTAGING GOVERNMENT 
ON PANAMA'S FAR FRONTIER? 
 
REF: PANAMA 001711 
 
Summary 
 ------- 
1.  (SBU)  UNHCR's unwavering support of refugee rights and 
its aid to Colombian civil-war refugees has given it great 
status and respect in Puerto Obaldia, a Caribbean town 200 
miles from Panama's capital on the coastal border of 
Colombia.  However, the distance from Panama City seems much 
greater as a result of its small size and geographical and 
political isolation.  PolOff traveled to the town of 500 
persons (60% of whom are of Colombian origin) with UNHCR 
representative Gonzalo Vargas Llosa and representatives of 
"Fundacion Los Pueblos del Bosque", a Panamanian NGO that 
administers the UNHCR aid, to demonstrate U.S. concern about 
refugee issues in Panama and to observe UNHCR/NGO sustainable 
development projects. Although the flow of refugees into 
Panama from Colombia slowed during the last seven years, 
UNHCR aid continues in the form of small business loans to 
help fully integrate the Colombians into Panamanian society. 
Former Panamanian MFA Deputy Nivia Rossana Castrellon, 
accompanying the group, visited the region for the first 
time.  End summary. 
 
Panama or Colombia? 
------------------- 
 
2.  (SBU)  Throughout his fast-paced tour, the local 
population warmly greeted Vargas as a returning hero and 
accorded him the respect usually reserved for a high ranking 
government official.  The Government of Panama (GOP) lacks 
presence in the remote area and the UNHCR has filled the 
vacuum, gaining credibility through its aid programs and 
unwavering defense of refugee rights.  Politically, Puerto 
Obaldia may be in Panama but geographically it might as well 
be in Colombia.  The majority of the inhabitants are 
Colombians and watch Colombian satellite TV.  Even much of 
the music played in the town's bar is Colombian.  The 
Panamanian National Police (PNP) has a barracks and maintains 
four check points with machine guns and sand bags around the 
edge of the town to protect it from FARC or UAC incursions. 
The picturesque Colombian village of Sapzurro is just a short 
boat ride away, however.  Former Deputy Foreign Minister 
Castrellon spoke about the difficulties the Government of 
Panama has in maintaining its influence in the region. 
 
.......where everyone knows your name 
------------------------------------- 
3.  (SBU)  Describing Puerto Obaldia as geographically 
isolated is an understatement.  Part of the Kuna Yala Comarca 
on Panama's Caribbean coast, the area has no roads and can 
only be reached by airplane or boat.  Many small homes have 
dirt floors.  Electricity is available for several hours a 
day from portable gas powered generators.  Panamanian 
National Police (PNP) and Immigration officials quickly 
notice outsiders, ask them to explain their presence, and 
present their documents.  The town's several paved streets 
and sidewalks are clean and free of litter, cars and trucks. 
Dogs, chickens, and little children roam the streets.  The 
Caribbean Sea surrounds Puerto Obaldia on three sides and it 
is separated from Colombia by low lying rugged coastal 
mountains.  Although the town is located in the Kuna Yala 
Comarca (an indigenous reservation) most of the population is 
Afro-Panamanian. 
 
Identities and nationalities questionable 
----------------------------------------- 
4.  (SBU)  Refugees fleeing Colombia's civil war began to 
arrive in Puerto Obaldia in 1997.  The exact number of 
Colombians who entered Panama's remote Darien border region 
is believed to be around 800. Some "internal" refugees came 
from La Bonga, a remote Panamanian village that historically 
had a mixed population of Colombians and Panamanians.  La 
Bonga was known as a village where the Revolutionary Armed 
Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas rested and staged 
operations.  Because of its FARC connections, the 
paramilitary Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) attacked 
La Bonga in 1997 killing five people.  The remaining 
villagers fled to Puerto Obaldia. 
 
5.  (SBU)  Following the attacks at La Bonga, the Government 
of Panama (GOP) granted the Colombians temporary protection 
for three months.  Today, eight years later, 120 Colombians 
remain under protective status in Puerto Obaldia, unable to 
work legally or travel outside the village.  UNHCR and 
Embassy have been encouraging Panama to resolve the status of 
Colombian refugees (see REFTEL).  A large problem for 
Colombian and Panamanian authorities is identifying who is a 
Panamanian and who is a Colombian or possibly an Ecuadorian. 
Many people born in remote villages have no birth 
certificates or national identification cards from either 
Panama or Colombia.  A Colombian consular officer maintains 
an office in Puerto Obaldia and he assists Colombians in 
obtaining documents such as birth certificates and cedulas 
(national identification cards) to prove their identity.  As 
part of the UNHCR visit, the NGO representatives delivered 
Panamanian refugee identification cards to 24 Colombians who 
had been living in Puerto Obaldia since 1997.  This group had 
recently documented their identity as Colombians and their 
status as refugees with the help of the consular officer.  A 
group of 42 Panamanians who also had never been documented as 
citizens before received their cedulas from the NGO 
representatives. 
 
6.  (SBU)  Many of the Colombians refugees now have wives and 
children in Panama.  Vargas went from house to house advising 
them to register their children with the Panamanian 
government.  The case of two six-year old twin brothers show 
the difficulties faced by many refugee families in this town. 
 The boys were born in La Bonga to young parents who are 
alleged to be FARC members.  No one has seen or heard of 
their parents for several years.  Their Colombian grandmother 
is raising them but has no documents proving they are 
Panamanian.  The NGO is trying to get permission to enroll 
the boys in school even though they are not documented 
Panamanians. 
 
 
7.  (SBU)  A variety of facilities in the village have 
received aid from the UNHCR, NGOs and other organizations. 
The main street houses a small library funded by the German 
embassy in Panama and contains several bookshelves with 
novels, history and geography books, and health information. 
A small theater (Cine de la Gente, approximately 10 x 20 
feet) filled with folding chairs is located in the same 
building as a two-table restaurant near the library.  The 
theater plays to full crowds and shows current DVDs three 
times a day on a 27" inch TV, charging twenty-five cents for 
children and fifty cents for adults.  Sodas and food can be 
ordered from the restaurant and eaten while you enjoy your 
movie. 
 
City Hall 
--------- 
8.  (SBU)  The UNHCR contingent spent all day and part of the 
evening visiting various people in the village and receiving 
updates on the impact of their programs.  The corregidora 
(who functions as magistrate and mayor), Senora Luna, 
provided a long report on all recent events in the town from 
her office that displays both a Colombian and Panamanian 
flag.  The director of the local school sat in on the report 
since most of the conversation dealt with school issues. 
Both the corregidora and the school director were concerned 
about five children in the village that have been missing 
school to work on their family's plot of land located near 
their former village of La Bonga.  Other families in the 
village also return to plant beans, rice, and corn near La 
Bonga.  The corregidora and the school director both thanked 
the UNHCR for the support provided to the school and other 
projects throughout the town.  The UNHCR is not shy about 
advertising - all items purchased with the assistance of 
UNHCR are labeled with a sticker in both English and Spanish. 
 
 
9.  (SBU)  The village school, built with UNHCR assistance, 
has a total of 179 students in grades one to seven and five 
teachers.  The students in grades one to five attend classes 
in the morning while the sixth and seventh graders attend 
school in the afternoon. Students attending both sessions 
begin their school day with a meal served in the small school 
cafeteria before beginning classes in one of the five 
classrooms.  Some of the students come from the islands 
located off the village's coast and will spend the school 
week with families in the village.  The school director 
believes a boarding facility would encourage more students 
from the coastal islands to attend the school.  The school is 
flanked by banana trees and a pen containing several pigs, 
some of which will be slaughtered to provide food for a 
festival later this year. 
 
Small Loans yield Big Results 
----------------------------- 
10.  (SBU)  In 1998, the UNHCR began providing health care, 
food, clothing, and rent subsidies to the refugee in Puerto 
Obaldia.  In July 2005, UNHCR changed their strategy from 
providing basic subsistence to one of making small loans for 
the refugees to start small businesses.  In Puerto Obaldia, 
five small family run stores have received loans of $350 to 
purchase refrigerators or freezers.  The stores then begin to 
stock and sell small quantities of fresh meat, poultry, ice, 
soda, beer as well as non-perishable products to their 
neighbors and become economically self sufficient.  Two 
families have started small restaurants using the small loan 
program from UNHCR.  All borrowers are in the process of 
repaying the loans and some are requesting additional loans 
for other purchases.  Four other families are using the same 
loan program to raise chickens, turkeys, and pigs as a 
business that makes them self sufficient. 
 
Not quite Paradise 
------------------ 
11.  (SBU)  While Puerto Obaldia may appear to be a tranquil 
Caribbean village, the problems are real and similar to the 
difficulties that exist throughout the country .  The town 
has a dedicated doctor but his clinic and equipment are 
clearly outdated and he cannot perform even minor surgeries. 
There is no dentist.  Any equipment or supplies needed in the 
town arrive by airplane or boat from Panama City or Colon 
which is becoming increasingly expensive as the cost of 
gasoline rises.  The young people leave the town for jobs in 
Panama City or Colombia.  The Colombian refugees who make up 
the majority of the population, however, will not return to 
their homeland despite the currently lower level of activity 
by Colombian guerrilla groups.  Although there have been no 
attacks in the area by Colombian guerrillas for three years, 
the fear remains.  The Colombian refugees would rather live 
under the harsh conditions in Puerto Obaldia than risk losing 
their lives if they return to Colombia.  Also, Vargas and 
Castrellon describe the living conditions in Puerto Obaldia 
as much better than those found in other Panamanian refugee 
communities in Jaque and Alto Tuira. 
 
Whose country is it anyway? 
--------------------------- 
12.  (SBU)  Comment:  The work of the UNHCR in this far 
corner of Panama is certainly commendable.  The ubiquitous 
presence of UNHCR posters announcing World Refugee Day and 
other events creates a sense that the UNHCR is the shadow 
government in the town of Puerto Obaldia.  While sovereignty 
is a word that appears in many places in Panama, this border 
region is clearly at the edge of the influence of the GOP. 
The border regions of Panama are vulnerable to many problems 
- drug trafficking, human smuggling, guerrilla activity - and 
the absence of a strong government presence makes these more 
likely.  Maintaining control of borders and government 
presence is an important part of sovereignty. The Colombians 
have settled in Puerto Obaldia and other Colombian border 
towns are now part of Panama although the GOP has not yet 
decided to treat them as such.  If the GOP were to assume the 
role of the UNHCR in providing assistance in the border area, 
it would be a significant first step in improving ties with 
this isolated part of the country.  End comment. 
 
EATON