Colonos

The term "colono" roughly translates as "settler." It is a term widely used by both the Kuna and non-Kuna to designate non-indigenous Panamanians living in the Darien, especially those that trace their ancestry to the Panamanians of the eastern provinces of Los Santos and Coclé. The term refers to the fact that the Darien was relatively unpopulated by non-indigenous Panamanians until the 70's when government policy began to encourage farmers and ranchers from the depressed and over-exploited areas of western Panama to resettle in the Darien.

Generally speaking, Panamanian society does not view its indigenous populations as a productive part of the society. Instead they are viewed as a marginalized and impoverished sector of the country that needs to be brought into the modern world, that is, into the "true" Panamanian society. On the other hand, the colonos are viewed very positively, similar to the frontier settlers of the western United States. The consequence of this social trend is that all of the policies are designed to bring the indigenous people out of their backwardness and into the developed Panamanian society. The forests are viewed as something to be conquered, as impediments to the full development of the land. The forest is a wild and uncivilized place, and the campesino or colono is the one charged with this noble task. Because of this narrative, policy tends to develop in ways that favor this ongoing process of deforestation and land invasion. The Kuna and other indigenous people have complained a thousand times about these invasions. The State will occasionally bring them to the diplomatic table and listen to their complaints, but very little is ever done, other than the creation of a perpetual "dialogue" which never leads anywhere and only serves to pass the time.

Professor Herrera was working for the GOP in the Bayano region when the Bayano Dam project was getting under way. He recounts how through a process of negotiation, they were able to relocate 80% of the colonos living in the area. The move was an attempt to preserve the forest for the Bayano Dam watershed. Since the colonos were or tended to be cattle ranchers, it was thought that they would end up deforesting the area surrounding the lake, which would be detrimental to the water supply. The State ended up allowing a small percentage of colonos to stay in the area. This small group turned out to be the seed to the large-scale development growth that would ensue in the area.

In 1978, the government released a resolution through the Department of Agriculture opening up the whole eastern part of Panama to a process of stake-holding with an allotment of 50ha per person. However there was never any oversight to determine how much land each person was actually claiming, and many people settled much more than the legal allotment. During this process, most of the people that they had removed during the Bayano project ended up returning. Now there is an overwhelming numerical advantage for the colonos in the area, which has significant political implications in favor of the colonos, over and beyond the general bias in favor of the colonos throughout the country. During this period, the idea of the comarca was very unpopular. To support the idea of setting aside territory for indigenous people was to be in opposition to the colonos. Even now, there are proposals to get rid of the comarca. The main reason that the Comarca of Madungandí was approved was because it was deemed necessary to protect the area-s forest as part of the watershed feeding the Dam. Before approving the comarca, the government made attempts to merely designate the area as a hydrological reserve. The government and private industry consultants intentionally allowed the Kuna and Embera communities living in the area to stay as a stopgap measure to deforestation, acknowledging that their forest-based lifestyle would help to maintain the health of the forests.