One of the richest areas in Panama is among the poorest

Darién commemorates its first hundred years of existence. It is a commemoration because there is still a long way to go to celebrate. After the regions, Darién is the poorest province in the country, according to indicators from the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Comptroller’s Office. Its 60,000 inhabitants suffer all the problems that can be had: they are completely abandoned, with problems of education, health, security, employment, access roads, and severe harassment of their environment, while thousands of hectares pass each year to private hands without control and in dubious legal processes. That, not to mention that it is a route for drug traffickers and the illegal trade of migrants. The presence of the authority is insufficient, while its inhabitants, in many cases, have no choice but to migrate to the capital or to other provinces in search of opportunities. But Darién is one of the richest provinces in natural resources: its forests and jungles are the lungs of the world and its waters are enviable in quantity and use, both by humans and by the fauna and flora that grows around them. It is a pity – and a complete irony – that one of the richest areas is, simultaneously, among the poorest in the country. LA PRENSA, Dec. 27.