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This is an excellent article and I will print it out to give to a few clients that sometimes ask about Panama.
The economic polarization that this article addresses in Panama is increasingly troubling and not a model any country should aspire to since it affects anyone that chooses to live there, rich, poor or in between. Extreme poverty is evident, especially for Panama’s indigenous populations and also in the cities. It’s always heartbreaking to see. We humans seem to forget that despair easily breeds contempt. When someone has nothing to loose, they look for ways to numb their pain and also to make others pay for their misfortune. How can any country not experience a rise in violence as their disparities in wealth increase? Whether it’s watching young indigenous mothers bring their sick children across the border to San Vito, CR in hopes of making them well because they would literally die without medical attention in Panama while knowing these women travel with barely the clothes on their backs and often go without eating much during their children’s hospital stays or when I see the Panamanian middle class sacrificing so much to send their youth out of the country to access higher education in hopes that they can become working professionals (evident by the number of Panamanian students in Costa Rican universities)–I’ve always been grateful CR had chosen another path. The Panamanian model is not one I would hope for Costa Rica where health care is still available to most and regular/higher education is also accessible to the majority of its population. We’ll have to see how the changing winds of trade agreements alters the economic disparities already growing in CR. Either way, whether it turns out to diminish the gap or to increase it, it will be felt by ALL who choose to live and visit there…I have great hopes that in a few years we will not be reading an article like this about CR, time will tell….
I think it is hard for many people to look at some article objectively! We need to first look at the sources if they are creditable and non bias.
I have been to Panama since the early 80’s my first trip was in 1984. Up until the year 2000 it was like a second home to me. Many of the areas that are pointed out in some of the articles that this author was referencing to, I fondly still remember.
When the Panama cannel was given over many people would say the country of Panama was doomed. Instead many forgiven countries such as China came in and pumped money into their economy. Panama still has its problems like Costa Rica, and all the other Central and South American countries but it does have some major positive points that will keep that country afloat as long as shipping from the east to the west continues.Panama City has one of the largest banking systems in the world. I remember going there and thinking “wow why is a German, Italian, and many other banks here” Well its all because of the Canal. Money is transfer when a ship passes thru the canal and foreign banks are there to transfer the money!
Another issue that no one likes is the traffic of drugs from Columbia; this money is pumped into the economy and does create a lot of wealth!
As for the security… well it always has been a problem, but is it worse than California, New York, Kansas City? If you put all of the major cities in the U.S. and combine them what do you think the rate of crime would be? I know Gary Indiana would probably be worse than Panama City!!!! I do have to say though because the U.S. pulled out the Columbians have had a hay day and that is affecting the crime rate….
As for indigenous people in Panama.. Well if we look at the U.S in the 70’s do you think the North American Indians were in a better situation? The only reason why you don’t see CR in the same situation is because they never had a large population of indigenous people in the first place!!
If you really think that Panama is that bad come further south and you will see a whole different picture!
Most people that visit Costa Rica don’t know this, but a little digging around and you can easily find that Costa Rica still has 8 separate indigenous groups that live within its borders Bribrís, Cabécares, Guaymies, Huetares, Bruncas o Borucas, Teribes, Chorotegas & Malekus. Six of them still use their own language (the first three groups mentioned are the largest and commonly use their language—sometimes not knowing how to speak or write in Spanish) and the Guaymie women still use their typical long dress made handmade of patchwork textiles. The Panamanian group that tends to crosses over to San Vito are also Guaymies. You’re right, the CR indigenous population was decimated thru the colonization and marginalization of its people in CR. Similar to what has been done in the many other parts of the world, but they are there and people tend to want to think that they’re invisible. They’re still about 1.7% of the population (see link) and foreign nationals according to the 2000 census are at about 8% but since about 75% of those are Nicaraguan then other “expats” make up about the same amount as the indigenous populations (+/- 2%). For goodness sake, the indigenous Costa Ricans only “earned” the right to vote in 1994 so yes, they are not in a marvelous position by any means, but if they can physically access healthcare clinics/hospitals they have access to medical services and if their children can reach the schools, then they have access to education, which is more than their Panamanian counterparts can say. All of the autochthonous groups have been marginalized, even in the US, that doesn’t mean it’s not happening in Panama. Again, it happens to be that certain basic services as health and education are not available to a large part of the population. I met many great Panamanian students at UNA and UCR which all told a similar story to what you’re saying now, they all thought that once the US pulled out of the Canal, many in Panama City would be doomed, but somehow (you’ve mentioned some alternatives) that hasn’t happened, but the polarization of wealth has—it was certainly evident to them. Does this mean that it hasn’t happened elsewhere, well of course not, but we’re not talking about elsewhere, we’re talking about Panama and Costa Rica. I’m still glad that in spite of their “minor” numbers, CR decided to remember that those numbers represented people and those people needed to have voting rights, access to medical services and education….May Sibö (Bribri name for God) help us all if we start to forget that…..
http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/crilo.html
http://www.ccp.ucr.ac.cr/noticias/simposio/pdf/solano.pdf 2000 CR indigenous population census
http://www.laprensa.com.ni/archivo/2005/junio/17/migrantes/ regarding immigrants in CRI love the advert at the bottom of the article for the Panama RE report. Kind of almost makes you feel like the whole story was meaningless… Who does their advertising?
If you are from the U.S. or Canada a tourist visa to Panama will allow you a 30 day visit.
If you are from Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Cyprus, El Salvador, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Italy, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, and Uruguay a tourist visa will allow you 90 days in Panama.
Panama’s immigration department website has an English page, which you can see at: http://www.migracion.gob.pa/eng/index.php, and a list of the world’s countries – choose a country from the drop-down menu to see if its citizens require a visa to visit Panama – here: http://www.migracion.gob.pa/eng/servicio.php?cont=paisvisa.
It is also important to note that all government offices in Panama have dress codes and shorts, tank tops, and flip flops are not allowed. If you speak Spanish and would like to venture calling Panama City Immigration yourself, the number is tel. + (507) 507-1800.
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comWell I am glad someone has a dress code! Man you look at all of the gringos coming off of the plane in CR and you think they are all rosta wanna be’s.
You can always tell the surfer dudes or the old time hippies because they wear the flip flops and shirts when they go down town to the government centers.The Latin cultures don’t dress in Hawaiian shirts and flip flops, you don’t see a tico wearing that.
Though you would want to see this…. From http://primapanama.blogs.com/_panama_residential_devel/2008/06/panamanians-fea.html
Panamanians fear crime is getting worse
We hear and read more stores about the increase in crime in the city every week. With the boom, have come criminals who pray on easy targets. So far crimes against foreigners have mostly been home burglaries, but as foreigners numbers increase you can be sure they too will become victims. I have put in a new category called Crime and Security which will link to posts I have mad regarding this important issue. People come here because of the friendly people, relatively low cost of living and security. When any of these things begin to falter, you can bet it will greatly slow down the immigration.
A recent survey found that Panamanians are increasingly concerned about their personal safety, and believe that crime, especially violent crime, is on the rise.
The findings were based on results from the latest Índice de Seguridad, conducted by the marketing firm GFK last April, and compiled the views of thousands of Panamanians over the age of 18, throughout the country, with the exception of the Darién and indigenous regions.
The survey, released yesterday, showed that 87 percent of respondents felt that crime had risen during the last year, reflecting an 9 percent increase over the findings of January 2007.
Eighty-four percent of those surveyed thought that crime in Panama had become much more violent, a perception that also rose 9 percent compared with the previous survey.
Most telling, however, was that 71 percent felt that crime will get worse in the future.
Included in this year’s survey for the first time was a new variable: the Índice de Temor, or “Fear Index,” which found that 64 percent of Panamanians experience a medium to high fear of crime.
From: [ http://primapanama.blogs.com/_panama_residential_devel/2008/08/panama-crime-st.html ]
Panama crime stats not too bad
According to this article in today’s La Prensa, crime in Panama is statistically not too bad, although it appears to be on the rise and more violent in nature. Like most countries murder is concentrated in cities and mostly taking place among the poorer neighborhoods where drugs play a major role. I have personally heard of a number of taxi kidnappings where people have been held up for money by the driver and then left in a bad part of town. Several cases were to younger Panamanians who did not have much money on them but were robbed anyway. The lesson is to be careful who you ride with and where you go in the cities. A gringo is even a higher grade target for would be robbers so be careful.
Excerpts:
A report by the Secretaría General Iberoamericana (SEGIB), for example, estimated the country’s homicide rate at 11.3 per 100,000 people, a number well below that of El Salvador and Jamaica, but significantly greater than Chile and Uruguay.
Taking that homicide rate into account, the Consejo Nacional de Seguridad Pública de El Salvador went one step further in its analysis, rating Panama as the country with the second lowest crime rate in Central American, topped only by Costa Rica, which averaged 7.7 murders per 100,000 people.
Whether those figures are modest or not, Panama has the symptoms of a “crime epidemic,” a diagnosis defined by the Organización Panamericana de la Salud as any rate higher than five murders for every 100,000 people.
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.com
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