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  • The Homelands Blog

    Back from Kuna Yala

    Ruxandra Guidi and Bear Guerra recently returned from a two-week visit to the indigenous communities of Kuna Yala, on Panama’s Caribbean coast. They were exploring the Guna (also known as Kuna) people’s relationship to their mainland forest, which is among the best …

  • Sandy Tolan, Nancy Postero

    Vanishing Homelands

    In Panama, a Clash of Cultures on the Frontier

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    Sandy Tolan, Nancy Postero

    Vanishing Homelands

    In Panama, a Clash of Cultures on the Frontier

    The construction of a road and hydroelectric dam in eastern Panama has threatened the survival of Guna Indians who live in the area.

    In the early 1970s, many Latin American nations looked to the untapped resources of their jungles as the key to prosperity and modernization.

    Huge development projects – dams, coal and gold mines, oil exploration projects, colonization and road-building programs, cattle and cash crop export strategies – were funded by international development banks.

    In Panama, the World Bank loaned the government nearly $70 million for its master plan for the jungle. First, a dam would be built, to help generate new industry, and wean Panama from its dependence on the U.S. and the canals.

    Second, to promote land reform and new settlement, a road would be carved into new lands in the jungle.

    The dam flooded the homelands of the 1,500 Guna (also known as Kuna) Indians, who were relocated to villages along the highway. Now, nearly 20 years later, tens of thousands of landless peasants have streamed down the new road, and have come face to face with the Gunas.

    This is a story of two cultures colliding on the fragile soils of a new frontier.

    Narration is by Edward James Olmos, who hosted a series of 13 half-hour Vanishing Homelands specials.

    Date

    January 25, 1992

    Outlets

    All Things Considered

    Tags

    Themes: Economy, Culture, Environment
    Regions: Central America
    Media: Audio
    Other Contributors: Sandy Tolan
    Other Tags: Kuna, Guna, Panama