UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PANAMA 002231

SIPDIS


SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON MASS MOPS SNAR EAID EAGR PREF PREL PINS PTER PM ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
SUBJECT: EMBASSY EFFORTS TO PROMOTE SECURITY AND
DEVELOPMENT IN THE DARIEN REGION

REF: A. 2003 PANAMA 00911

B. PANAMA 1534



1. (U) This message is sensitive but unclassified. Please
protect accordingly.



2. (SBU) Summary. While Panama's remote and
economically-underdeveloped Darien Region remains vulnerable
to incursions by paramilitary groups and drug traffickers
from Colombia, the region's security under Panama's outgoing
Moscoso administration has improved. Over the past two
years, the GOP increased the Panamanian National Police (PNP)
presence in the region, especially along the Colombian
border, improved PNP training, and instituted better
communication with its Colombian counterparts. However, few
measures have been taken to protect the region against
environmental degradation and to promote sustainable
development. Embassy Panama has created a two-pronged
strategy predicated primarily upon continued USG security
assistance and sustainable community development programs.
Our engagement strategy with the Torrijos administration,
which took office on Sept. 1, will promote this approach to
developing the Darien Region. End summary.


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The Darien Region: Ethnically Diverse Yet Isolated
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3. (SBU) The Darien region is approximately three-fourths the
size of Connecticut (16,671 square miles) and is composed of
the Darien Province and the Comarca Embera-Wounaan (an
indigenous reservation). Its estimated population of nearly
50,000 is comprised of three ethnic groups: Afro-Darienitas
and Afro-Chocoanos (16%), Indigenous (34%), and
Colonos/campesinos that migrated from central and western
Panama (50%). The region is densely forested, extremely
isolated, and sparsely populated. The region's Pan-American
highway, constructed in

1972, helped to bring some
modernization to the region; however, the road ends at
Yaviza, 30 miles from the Colombian border, and the last 50
miles are dirt and gravel. This road is often impassable
during Panama's rainy season (mid-March to mid-November).
The Panamanian and Colombian governments continue to discuss
the feasibility of completing the road link between the two
countries, although no formal agreement has been reached. In
October 2003, Panama and Colombia approved a 250-mile
electric power interconnection, pending completion of
feasibility and environmental impact studies. It is still
undetermined whether the cable would run under sea or on
land. The project is expected to come online in 2007. The
region is Panama's main national timber supplier. Other
natural resources within the region include biological
diversity and fishing resources. However, rapid population
growth, expanding "slash and burn" agriculture and ranching,
and illegal logging threaten the future of the region.


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USG Security Assistance
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4. (SBU) Our security efforts, funded primarily through DOD
and State programs, have focused upon providing training and
equipment to the PNP in order to improve its mobility,
communications, and small unit tactics. The Embassy's
offices of Defense Cooperation (ODC) and Narcotics Affairs
(NAS) provide the bulk of USG security assistance. ODC
trains PNP border units and, in coordination with NAS,
sponsored police small boat units, improving the GOP's
ability to patrol inland and coastal waterways. Between USD
1.5 and 2 million of NAS's total USD 6.5 million budget for
FY 2004 will go to programs devoted to the Darien province.
These programs are aimed at helping enhance border security.
NAS has provided trucks and boats to help improve GOP
mobility. NAS primarily coordinates with the PNP, Panama's
National Maritime Service (SMN) and National Air Service
(SAN). NAS is also working on a communications upgrade
project to better internal communications within Panama by
improving interoperability between Panama's Public Forces
(PPF) and to improve HF and VHF networks of the PNP and the
SMN. In addition, NAS recently hired a Personal Services
Contractor Counter Narcotics Advisor to coordinate NAS
activities in the region.


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Sustainable Community Development Programs
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5. (U) As the security situation in the region continues to
improve, our efforts continue to expand into programs aimed
at improving the productive and social infrastructure of
Darien communities while conserving local resources and the
environment. The USAID Community Development Program in the
Darien works to improve the organization and access of
indigenous communities to the forest resources in the Darien
as well as to implement sustainable forest management and
trade activities. Peace Corps Volunteers focus on economic
development, environmental conservation, and environmental
health. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) operates a successful
foot and mouth disease control project and screwworm
eradication program in the area.



6. (U) USAID selected 55 communities, comprised of 28
indigenous groups (23 Embera, 4 Wounaans, and 1 Kuna group),
20 campesino groups, and 7 afro groups, to implement its
Community Development Program for the Darien in 2003. This
three-year, USD 6.0 million program benefits 20,599 people,
or approximately one-third of the Darien's total population
(7,447 campesinos, 5,782 afros, and 7,370 indigenous). The
integrated program includes all themes necessary for
successful sustainable forest management and trade: technical
forestry, organizational and business development,
production, markets and private sector relationships, and
sales. Program components include improving social
infrastructures, strengthening local organizations, and
developing productive infrastructures. Social infrastructure
projects include the construction of community centers with
libraries, rural water systems using new technologies,
latrines, transportation centers, and landfill and recycling
centers.



7. (U) USAID also provides technical assistance and training
to beneficiary communities for the development of "community
strategies" and planning and implementation of social and
productive infrastructure projects. These projects have been
chosen by the communities and USAID emphasizes local
management, self-help, and sustainability. Finally, projects
aimed at improving productive infrastructure include the
construction of agricultural storage, processing, and
packaging facilities, slaughterhouses, plant and tree
nurseries, rice mills, and transportation centers. Other
activities include the promotion of eco-tourism (visitors'
centers, hiking trails, foot bridges, cultural center-dances,
and handicrafts) and the rehabilitation of production roads.



8. (U) Currently, the USAID Community Development Program for
the Darien is in the stage of full field implementation.
Twenty-nine infrastructure projects have been completed and
delivered to the communities, two are under implementation
and five are on hold because of the weather (Panama is
currently in the "rainy" season causing the Pan-American
highway to be frequently impassable). Fifty-eight new
projects have been identified and are in the approval
process. By the end of September, USAID Panama expects to
have completed 40 community strategic plans. The next step
is to provide technical assistance to help these communities
start designing their own projects and looking for alternate
sources of funding.



9. (U) The Peace Corps has significantly increased its
presence over the past year in the Darien. Currently, 12
Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) serve in the region and Peace
Corps plans to add four additional PCVs to the region in
September 2004. Over half of the PCVs work on environmental
health projects that support the creation or maintenance of
45 aqueducts in partnership with Panama's Ministry of Health
(MOH) and small U.S.-based NGOs. PCVs also work to support
USAID's Community Development Program for the Darien.
Presently, security concerns limit the placement of
volunteers from the Panama Este border to Meteti; however,
Peace Corps hopes to place PCVs further south and west as the
security situation improves.


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A Look Ahead
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10. (SBU) Comment. We believe this strategy is appropriate
for the Darien region as it addresses the current security
situation and should improve the region's longer term
capacity for self-sustainability. As we begin to build a
partnership with the incoming Torrijos Administration, we
plan to encourage the GOP to find the Darien's competitive
advantage and apply a rational use of natural resources to
help develop the region. Embassy Panama will also educate
new GOP leaders of the dangers of environmental abuse and
encourage the GOP to adopt systems for environmental permits
and land titling. We also will continue to promote interest
in the Darien by international organizations. End Comment.
WATT