7 - The Darién Gap: Political Discourse and Economic Development in Colombia

Summary

“Let's wait until they build it, this Panamericana.” With some undisguised sarcasm, old Don Jesús Andrade seemed almost to defy the arrival of modernity in his urabeña land. The kuna wise old man knew what he said: for more than five decades, he had led the indigenous community Makilakuntiwala in the Darien Gap. For centuries, the inclemency of the geography and the indigenous resistance have contributed to the myth of the impenetrable gap: a jungle barrier that prevents any direct communication between the two halves of the Americas. I have heard other natives claim, “The gap is covered as long as we continue here.” In his words, I thought I heard the echo of the five centuries of struggle that the Kuna and other ethnic communities living in this region have faced to defend the integrity of the territory that they later occupied after the disappearance of the Cueva, the ancient inhabitants of Uraba, who were massacred and exterminated by the conquerors. Their land is threatened today not only by the existence of an ancient and still unresolved armed conflict in the area but also by the arrival of an unexpected modernity that is destroying their natural habitat, the forest, a threat even worse than the conflict itself.

The Uraba region is located in northwestern Colombia, near the border with the Republic of Panama. This is one of the areas of the world with greater fauna and flora richness and diversity, a “green paradise” that, for its people, has been transformed into a “green hell.” In recent years, this area has been the epicenter of a critical humanitarian crisis that has forced people to move to safer places. Several authors have pointed that the fragile ecosystem that Uraba has today is under a serious threat, whose origin can be recognized in the industrialization prospects of this area (A. Escobar; E. Escobar). Nowadays, several domestic and foreign companies are considering Uraba as a privileged place for the development of projects and megaprojects with a strong social and environmental impact, this with the consent of the state, based upon the government's interest in anything that can boost economic development.