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13 April 2009 | Interviews | Climate Justice and Energy
Affected and Together
Activists against dams meet in Panama
Length: 1 minute 52 seconds
Download: MP3 (1.3 Mb)
In Panama, the struggles for the right to water and against the model of the big hydroelectric dams are in the spotlight. It´s not a coincidence that this was the country chosen to hold the 5th MesoAmerican Meeting of the Latin American Network aganist Dams, in defense of rivers, its communities and water, from April 22nd to April 25th in Chiriquí province, Panama.
Several members of social, environmental and human rights organizations from several countries of Latin America will participate in the meeting, told Jorge Moreno, one of the local organizers of the activity, to Real World Radio.
The workshops will deal with issues like environmental justice, impacts of climate change, hydroelectric and mining megaprojects, dams, carbon market, wind projects, and the displacement of communities due to residential tourism initiatives, among other things.
One of Panama´s most paradigmatic and current issues is the case of the Naso indigenous people from Bocas del Toro province, in the border with Costa Rica, as Chiriquí.
It is in this region of Panama where cattle company Bocas is evicting, with the help of anti-riot police officers, native communities to expand their cattle project, which focuses on buffalo. After the massive demonstrations carried out on the International Day of Water on March 22nd, the repression against these indigenous peoples has increased.
In addition to this conflict with the cattle company, the Naso indigenous people face the plans to build hydroelectric dams on Teribe and Changuinola rivers, promoted by Medellin Public Company and US company AES.
