The Land Returns · Episode 5 of 14 · 22 min
Panama: A State Within a State
Panama offers the hemisphere's furthest-along model of Indigenous autonomy. Peoples such as the Guna and Ngabe-Bugle govern semi-autonomous comarcas with their own congresses. The episode covers Law 72 collective titling, the 2020 Naso comarca won at the Supreme Court despite overlapping an international park, and the 2024 climate relocation of Guna families from a sinking island.
Who's who
- Juan Carlos Varelapresident who objected to the Naso comarca in 2018
- Laurentino Cortizopresident who sanctioned the Naso comarca law in 2020
Where it happens
- Guna Yala, Panama+3 more episodesfirst Indigenous comarca, recognized in 1938
- Naso Tjer Di comarca, Bocas del Torocreated in 2020, mostly within La Amistad park
- Gardi Sugdub, Panama+1 more episodesinking island whose families relocated in 2024
- La Amistad International Parkbinational World Heritage site overlapping the Naso comarca
Timeline
- 1925Guna revolt wins de facto autonomy
- 1938Guna Yala recognized as the first comarca
- 1997Ngabe-Bugle comarca created
- 2008Law 72 creates collective titling outside comarcas
- December 4, 2020Law 188 creates the Naso comarca
- May-June 2024about 300 Guna families relocate to the mainland
Still debated
How much autonomy survives a conservation veto is unsettled, since Law 72 and the Naso arrangement give the environment ministry power where land overlaps parks. Titling under Law 72 has moved slowly, and mining, roads, and settlers still press on territories.
