On Its green fields, its high mountains and its nice weather, shrouds the indigenous group Nagbe Buglé, who are found in the region that shares the same name and which was created in 2007 between the provinces of Bocas del Toro, Veraguas and Chiriquí in the republic of Panama. This ethnic group are the most vulnerable to social problems; they are majority amongst the five indigenous groups found in Panama. Its subsistence is dependent on farming. There’s something in particular that keeps these groups marginalised; which is the violence amongst groups as well as migration. They leave their land to work on the coffee plantations to earn a bit of money.
This is not enough though, deprivation and school desertion is another indicator of poverty levels in the region. But not all is a tragedy; the Nagbe are waking up and many of them are moving back to their communities to work hard. The new generation is getting prepared. Nonetheless, because of the government control, indigenous people are still ready to combat. They are protecting Cerro Colorado, one of the most important copper mines in the world.
The government has currently the intention to reform the mining code that allows the international companies to explode commodities. Therefore, they take the profits back to their countries and Panama only gets a third of such profits. But, what do the indigenous groups get, if they’ve been neglected for years?
Yanel Venado and José Sire, are two young people from this ethnic group as well as being community leaders. Venado is a lawyer and Sire is studying to be an accountant. They both recognise the negotiations that the government has promoted are due to political interests, but they argue that indigenous groups are not taken into account during the main negotiations. As community leaders that have entered into a dialogue with the population to explain the impacts created by the exploitation of the mine in cerro Colorado. “We are still on time so we don’t suffer what other Latin-American countries have, where inhabitants are exploited in exchange for nothing, because there are no benefits for the communities”, states Venado.
At the start of 2011, indigenous groups started a grand mass movement in Panama and in the region. They were asking for the abolition of a law reforming the mining code. Such demonstrations brought about battles between the national police and the indigenous strikers, and other ethnic groups joined the cause. It was a lovely struggle and promoted the respect to a culture that said: “No to Cerro Colorado exploitation on open field”. Indigenous groups recognise that there are other ways to generate wealth in the region and prevent their people form starving. For example Sire says that if they did not have copper reserves in the area, authorities would keep ignoring them.
The general assembly recently brought up the mining topic code to the fore, they are looking to discuss it further, but the central government ask to suspend the talks.
The Nagbe Buglé group is updated about what could happen, as there are indigenous groups that support mining, although they are a minority, whilst most of them say they would protect their rivers, climate, vegetation and culture. The Nagbe Buglé identity has strengthened with a struggle that has been an example of bond and strength within the groups coming from the region.