EMBASSY EFFORTS TO PROMOTE SECURITY AND

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. -------------- -------------- The Darien Region: Ethnically Diverse Yet Isolated -------------- -------------- ¶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. -------------- USG Security Assistance -------------- ¶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. -------------- Sustainable Community Development Programs -------------- ¶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. -------------- A Look Ahead -------------- ¶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