We are receiving reports from our partners in the Ngäbe indigenous territories of Panama that they are being threatened to be evicted without their consent this week. We fear this eviction makes way for completion of the Barro Blanco dam – a project registered under the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism and financed by German and Dutch development banks and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration.
The final stage means flooding the Barro Blanco dam reservoir, which will in turn flood six hectares of the Ngäbe-Bugle territory (comarca), including the communities’ homes and schools, as well as their religious, archaeological, and cultural sites.
Please SEND A LETTER (https://secure3.convio.net/ciel/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=131) to show your solidarity with the Ngäbe communities, and call on President Varela to protect the rights of affected Ngäbe communities, including by ensuring that they are free from intimidation, repression, and forced eviction.
Top picture: courtesy of Augustin Abad
