White flags on streets of Casco Viejo to protest Cinta Costera Extension

Although facing  public protests and growing concern from citizens groups about phase three of the Cinta Costera, President Martinelli remains firm and appears to be sending a message that it’s a done deal.

Panama is sending a high level government team to Paris to meet with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) to defend its plans but  for many on the sidelines it is deemed window dressing.

On Monday, June  13, residents of  Casco Viejo, backed  by citizen groups, demonstrated in front of the Foreign Ministry building, waving white flags which became a symbol of opposition during the years of the dictatorship, and all around the old city,  hastily produced black on white protest signs sprouted, some specifically targeted at tourists, others to the population at large.

Martinelli described those opposing the project as a  "tiny group of people who have grabbed a large amount of property in Casco Viejo" and he accused them of not wanting developments for  residents of ElChorrillo, Barraza and the rest of the city.

He said that their leaders have influence in a medium which he did not identify. "It seems they are the ones creating the hype and the fuss"

The work would go ahead he said, and  he was confident that the Paris meeting of the World Heritage Committee of Unesco, from June 19 to 29 will 

arrive at "an acceptable term for the people of Panama, Panama City and residents of the Old Town.

In April this year Unesco warned the Panamanian government of the possibility that tt Panama Viejo and Casco Viejo could be removed from the World. What worried the bodywas the use of the Old Town to build the third phase of the Cinta Costera.
Government mock up photos show a four lane highway circling the old city including its beaches.

Hildegard Vásquez, President of the Calicanto Foundation, who participated in Monday’s  protest, said she was confident that Unesco would  explain the "magnitude" of what the government plans to do, but feared that they would be ignored. {jathumbnail off}