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RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 0956
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RHMFISS/DIRJIATF SOUTH
RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L PANAMA 000237 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/16/2019 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KPAO PM
SUBJECT: PANAMA: AMBASSADOR VISITS THE DARIEN 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Barbara J. Stephenson for reasons 1.4 (b) and 
 (d) 
 
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Summary 
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¶1.  (SBU)  The Ambassador and several members of her Country 
Team visited the Darien province March 10-11. During the 
first day of her visit she received a briefing on the 
security situation from Director of the National Frontier 
Service (SENAFRONT) Frank Abrego and met with Darien Governor 
Juan Carlos Brin and other local GOP officials. On the second 
day she visited a number of USG funded sites in the company 
of a group of Panamanian reporters and gave an interview on a 
local VOA-affiliated radio station. 
 
¶2.  (C)  The trip revealed the exisence of two Dariens: an 
economically active Darien with basic public services in 
villages along the Pan-American Highway and a much more 
isolated and poor Darien along the various river valleys. 
Throughout the trip the Ambassador met with people who were 
very favorably disposed to the U.S. and eager for greater 
U.S. engagement with the region. It was clear that the work 
of various USG-funded activities (Peace Corps, USAID and 
USDA-APHIS for the most part) in the region had played a key 
role in developing this goodwill, and that a significant USG 
supported network already exists in the region to serve as a 
foundation for future USG engagement in the Darien. Local 
leaders highlighted access to clean drinking water as the 
most important problem in the region, together with poor 
quality education, and the difficulty of transportation. 
Based on the results of this trip, the Embassy will form a 
Darien Working Group to bring all the agencies with 
experience in the Darien together to work on a strategy for 
improving governance in the Darien to reduce its 
vulnerability to the FARC and other Drug Trafficking 
Organizations (DTOs). End Summary. 
 
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A Tale of Two Dariens 
--------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  The Ambassador's trip to the Darien highlighted 
the importance of transportation links in the Darien. Long 
associated with impenetrable jungle, part of the Darien has 
been dramatically transformed by the completion of the 
Pan-American Highway from Meteti down to the village of 
Yaviza in the last 5 years. As the Embassy motorcade drove up 
and down the road there were clear signs of government 
presence and economic activity everywhere. SENAFRONT police 
officers had small bases and checkpoints up and down the 
road, while the SENAFRONT Regional Headquarters in Meteti was 
fairly well equipped, thanks in part to ongoing NAS and 
SOUTHCOM funded improvements and equipment. There were 
numerous small government offices, schools, health clinics, 
power stations, and a functioning transportation system 
(greatly improved thanks to the new USAID-funded bus station 
in Meteti). There was not running water, however, as this 
continues to be a major problem in all areas of the Darien. 
While many of the houses along the road were extremely poor, 
often consisting of a few wood planks slapped together, there 
were also clear signs of economic activity, including 
numerous cattle ranches, stores and roadside restaurants. In 
many ways the "Darien of the road" looked like a time capsule 
of rural Panama 50 years ago, rather than an impenetrable 
jungle province. This is no doubt good news, but it is far 
from being the whole story. 
 
¶4.  (C) While the road is one of the most heavily populated 
parts of the Darien, there is another Darien - the "Darien of 
the rivers". South of Meteti there are almost no roads except 
for the highway and a few short roads branching off of it, 
and two isolated roads on the Pacific coast. In the rest of 
the Darien south of Meteti, rivers serve as the primary 
transportation routes, and most people live on or near rivers 
or the sea. The Ambassador experienced this as she traveled 
from the Provincial capital of La Palma to Meteti by boat. In 
the Darien of the rivers, transportation is very difficult, 
frequently requiring trips in dugout canoes and subject to 
tides and seasonal changes in river levels. SENAFRONT 
Director Abrego explained to the Ambassador that the 
SENAFRONT presence in these areas was negligible, limited to 
a few garrisons in isolated towns. He described plans to 
create mobile units that could establish a periodic SENAFRONT 
presence in these areas, but acknowledged that fully 
implementing his plan would require significantly more 
equipment than SENAFRONT now has. Various people during the 
trip commented on the problems in the education system in the 
isolated villages on the rivers. Most teachers in the Darien 
are from other areas of Panama, and the difficulty in 
accessing the villages, together with the cultural isolation 
of living in indigenous Embera-Wounaan villages where Spanish 
is not the dominant language, leads to very high rates of 
teacher absences and poor professional performance. Governor 
Brin told the Ambassador that the single greatest need in the 
Darien of the rivers was clean drinking water. While the 
governor and Ministry of Health officials showed the 
Ambassador a well equipped local hospital in La Palma, most 
people living away from the road would have great difficulty 
reaching this or any of the other hospitals and health 
clinics in the Darien, or even a phone, in the event of an 
emergency. Clearly, there are two very different realities in 
the Darien, and the areas most effected by the presence of 
DTOs and the FARC are all in the isolated riverine areas of 
the Darien. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
Significant USG Presence, Positive Image 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (C)  Everywhere the Ambassador stopped she was greeted 
with great enthusiasm. The Grand Cacique of the 
Embera-Wounaan, Betanio Chiquidama (Note: The traditional 
leader of the two "autonomous" Embera-Wounaan areas within 
the Darien. The traditional government of these areas has no 
budget and no real governmental power, but tremendous moral 
authority among the Embera-Wounaan. End Note), called on the 
USG to take a more active role in the Darien in support of 
the security and sustainable development of the region at a 
signing ceremony at the USAID-partner Darien Forestry School 
in Canglon. At a meeting with Embera women at a local farm 
the women asked the Ambassador for help building a bridge to 
link them to an adjacent town. The farm itself benefits from 
the success the U.S.-Panamanian Commission for the 
Eradication of Screwworm (COPEG) has had in eradicating this 
devastating pest from Panama (Note: COPEG is a bi-national 
commission, 90% financed by the USDA to the tune of $172 
million since 1997, to eliminate screwworm from Panama and 
than maintain an effective biological barrier against the 
disease in the Darien Gap, thus protecting Central America, 
Mexico, and the U.S. The program maintains an important 
network of partner farms and inspection stations throughout 
the Darien. End Note) At another COPEG-partner farm the owner 
explained to the Ambassador how COPEG's work had made it 
possible to profitably raise cattle for meat and milk in a 
region where they used to whither and die due to screwworm. 
The users of the USAID-funded bus terminal in Meteti that the 
Ambassador visited were also deeply appreciative of U.S. 
assistance. The Ambassador visited two sites where Peace 
Corps volunteers had been living and working for several 
years, including the Foundation for Darien Children that has 
a nutritional program in almost every school in the Darien. 
 
¶6.  (C)  The Peace Corps volunteers had clearly established 
deep ties to the Darienites with whom they lived and worked, 
creating a significant reserve of goodwill towards the U.S., 
and faith in the USG's ability to bring effective programs to 
the Darien that could have a significant effect on the lives 
of people. Another significant source of goodwill toward the 
USG is COPEG which has changed the reality in much of the 
Darien by virtually eradicating a disease that had devastated 
the region, and then having stayed to create a large and 
highly effective network of inspection stations to keep the 
area free of screwworm. Clearly, USDA/COPEG, together with 
USAID and Peace Corps, have created a solid foundation of 
trust on which future USG programs in the Darien can build. 
 
----------------------------- 
Opening the Eyes of the Press 
----------------------------- 
¶7.  (C)  Press coverage of the visit has been positive, 
highlighting USG investments in the region. In her radio 
interview the Ambassador talked about the USG programs in the 
region, and our commitment to the Darien's sustainable 
development. The journalists commented to EmbOffs their 
surprise at the sophistication of the Darienites, and the 
economic potential of the region. 
 
--------------- 
The Way Forward 
--------------- 
 
¶8.  (C)  Moving forward on our engagement in the Darien, Post 
will seek to focus on the Darien of the rivers. It is in 
these isolated areas of the Darien that small communities are 
facing the challenges posed by encroaching DTOs and the FARC. 
They receive few services from the central government beyond 
unmotivated teachers, broken water systems, and distant 
health care. Their children are being recruited to work for 
 
the DTOs or the FARC, who also buy consciousness by paying 
above market rates for food and supplies to local merchants. 
FARC political operatives work to undermine faith in the 
central government's control of the area amidst an almost 
complete absence of Panamanian security forces. 
 
¶9.  (C)  Post proposes to confront this challenge through a 
"whole of government" strategy. We believe the key to 
securing the GOP's control of the Darien region is to form a 
broad alliance of local groups, the various levels of 
Panamanian government, local and international NGOs, and 
International Organizations. The Ambassador's trip to the 
Darien made clear that there are many groups working in the 
Darien, but there is not a lot of coordination among them. 
Post plans to start by forming a Darien Working Group within 
the Embassy to pull in all the USG agencies that have 
experience in the Darien to draw up an accurate picture of 
what the needs are, what the existing resources are, and what 
our experience in the area can teach us. Following up on a 
request from Chiquidama, Post will then work with the Embera 
to encourage greater coordination of efforts among host 
government, NGOs, International Organizations and other 
donors on what is being done in the Darien, what needs to be 
done, and how we can work together to strengthen local 
society, and the host government's provision of services. A 
key to this strategy will be allowing local groups to take 
the lead in calling for greater coordination, while then 
using the weight of the USG to give the initiative momentum 
by agreeing to present various USG programs for broad 
consultation among this group. 
 
¶10.  (C)  A greater coordination of efforts in the Darien to 
provide effective access to clean water, to improve the 
quality of education and health care can make a real 
difference in the perception of those living in this remote 
area can tip the scales against those who would benefit from 
its isolation and hopelessness. Together with a program of 
increasing SENAFRONT's capabilities, this can turn the Darien 
into an inhospitable environment for DTOs and the FARC. 
 
 
STEPHENSON