However, the hope that Martinelli would change the path of the conflict didn´t last long.

Last week, the indigenous people issued a statement in which they express that the agreement made with the Executive Branch to move the peaceful protest to a Red Cross facility was a sham.

“In this way, the current government transformed the “protest settlement” into a group of affected Nasos, which caused the neutralization of our protest measures”, the indigenous people state.

According to them, Martinelli did not comply with the commitments taken, and he gave an inadequate place for the indigenous people to stay.

“This is an extremely dangerous place, where there are shootings day and night and we fear for our safety. We are also facing serious health problems, because there are dengue mosquitoes and many of our friends have caught that disease”, they state in the communique.

On August 10th the indigenous people were expelled from the Red Cross office, and they were asked to return to their community in Bocas del Toro, were they were evicted as well. They decided to take again new peaceful measures.

In addition to the conflict with the cattle company, Naso and Ngobe indigenous people warned that Teribe and Changuinola rivers, both extremely important for their survival, are being threatened by the hydroelectric project Chan 75, promoted by Colombian company EMP and US company AES.

Martinelli hasn´t taken a position yet about a recommendation by the Inter American Human Rights Commission to suspend Chan 75, which was neglected by his predecessor, Martín Torrijos.

Photo: http://www.almanaqueazul.org