Poverty in Rural Panama

                A strong characteristic of Latin America is its extreme contrasts between the rich and poor.  Panama is no exception to this generality.  The country ranks among the highest in economic inequality, sharing similar statistics with South Africa and Brazil (1).  According to reports made in 2008, 28.6 per cent of Panamanians are poor, while 11.7 per cent live in extreme poverty (2).  Rural areas have the highest concentrations of poverty.  Indigenous groups, especially the Ngobe-Bugle, also tend to have high poverty rates. 

                Poverty in rural Panama is mainly a result of a lack of basic economic services.  There are few connecting roads, which prevent these people from easy access to schools, food markets, and health services (1).  Since rural people often rely on subsistence farming, the inadequacy of roads prevents them from easily transporting their goods to the local food markets to make a profit.  The poor are more prone to infant mortality, malnutrition, shortened lifespan, and infectious diseases.  The absence of roads plays a significant role in child malnutrition since it prevents children from accessing health services.   

                As a reaction to rural poverty, many Panamanians move to urban areas in hopes to make more money.  Although this helps the individual have a more sustainable life, it often harms the culture where the individual originated. This idea is exemplified in the Kuna video shown in class. To recap, the young woman left the Kuna territory to obtain a secretarial job in Panama City.  She enjoyed the freedoms and opportunities found in her new lifestyle. However, with more young people leaving the Kuna area, the weaker their culture becomes because the young people are not present to learn it and to continue passing the culture on to their children.  A method to help improve the standard of living for Panamanians, while also allowing them to maintain their cultural identity needs to arise.

                Although there are many intricacies to poverty, a starting point to help improve the conditions of the people would be to construct roads. The problem with this simple solution is that road construction is a delicate issue. It would require the destruction of a large amount of land, which may result in protest.  

Sources:

1.http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTPOVERTY/EXTPA/0,,contentMDK:20207841~menuPK:443285~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:430367,00.html

2. http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/web/guest/country/home/tags/panama

Racial Hegemony in Panama

            Existing in almost every society around the globe is the issue of racial inequality. Although Panama claims to be a racially egalitarian society, lacking any inequalities attributed to an individual’s physical appearance and heritage, discrimination does exist. Through my research, I found that the more economically powerful a specific “race” of people tends to be, the higher that “race” is placed on the social hierarchy. An interesting race relation is seen in Panama’s Archipelago region.  The region’s population is roughly 18,000 and consists of a mix of Afro-Antilleans, indigenous people, Chinese, Latinos, and Europeans.

The history of the region’s racial segregation is significant because it offers a rare incident when darker skin was favored over lighter skin. The story begins in the late 1800’s when about 30,000 Afro-Antilleans arrived in Panama to work either on the construction of the Panama Canal or on the banana plantations. It is important to note that these immigrants spoke English. Contrasting from most Central American countries, like Honduras and Nicaragua, where blacks and indigenous people intermarried, the Afro-Antilleans and the local Ngobe indigenous tribe did not.  This is due to a sense of superiority that the Afro-Antilleans developed after achieving economic power. To explain, during the 1920’s, a fungus spread into Panamanian plantations and destroyed many crops. Rather than fix the problem, many United States citizens who managed the plantations returned to the United States. As a result, payroll decreased and many Afro-Antilleans obtained the clerk and supervisor jobs that were abandoned. Additionally, since Afro-Antilleans spoke English, they had the ability to communicate with North Americans (Guerron-Montero 213).

This turn of events had a significant impact on the social status of the black community living in Panama. Since they had jobs, they earned money and could afford their own plots of land.  The Ngobe indigenous group mainly missed out because they did not speak English. This is a unique instance of the darker skinned individual being ranked higher than the lighter skinned person. Similar to how some people in Brazil change their appearance to look more “white” by dying their hair blonde, Panamanian indigenous people “perm their hair and style it in ways that make it less evident that they are indigenous.”(Guerron-Montero 217)  Indigenous people were also given derogatory terms like buchi and bushmen which share a similar meaning to “hillbilly.” Darker skinned people continued to carry this high status until the beginning of white tourism during the 1990’s. After this contact, racial hierarchy flipped entirely, placing the lighter skinned person at the top.

Similar to how the Afro-Antilleans gained their social prestige, the new preference for lighter skin was also a result of an economic power shift.  To elaborate, the white tourists who visited Panama were usually wealthy people. Interestingly, the Panamanians were more entranced by the tourist’s extreme wealth and ability to pamper their wives and families than their light skin color. With time, Panamanians began associating light skin with wealth. This ultimately led to the preference for light skin.

Panamanian social hierarchy is very interesting. The government claims it does not exist and that distinctions are based on economic class and gender. In a sense, the government is somewhat correct. The Afro-Antilleans during the early mid 1900’s held a high status because they held good jobs during that time; therefore, a high economic status. The white tourists were also ranked highly in economic power because of their wealth. Unfortunately, since specific “races” have a tendency to dominant a certain economic bracket, racial discrimination develops as a side effect.

Guerron-Montero, Carla. "Racial Democracy and Nationalism in Panama." Ethnology 45 (2006):

            209-28. JSTOR. Web. 6 Apr. 2011. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/20456595>.

Ceremonial Grindstones

The Gran Chiriquí region, located in southern Costa Rica and northern Panama, contains ancient pre-Columbian artifacts dating from 500 to 1500 AD. Throughout most of this region’s history, maize has existed as an important crop, nourishing the people and having a large role in their ceremonial affairs.  In recent years, artifacts have been discovered that were assumingly used to prepare maize and aid in ceremonies.  Archaeologists call them “metates.” Constructed from porous volcanic stone, these artifacts range in size from 10 cm tall and 30 cm in length to 40 cm high and 90 cm long.  The metates’ basic purpose was to grind corn.  However, the ornamental quality of many metates suggests a ritual function.  The grindstones located in Gran Chiriquí are recognized for their intricate stone relief patterns that depict geometric and animal designs. Commonly featured animals include jaguars and birds. This is unique to the region; most grindstones from other regions are plain. Since maize was such an important crop, archaeologists link these sculptures with the concept of fertility, a popular theme for ancient societies since so many are believed to have struggled for survival.  It is suggested that these metates may have served to bring fertility to the agricultural land.

Source: http://www.precolumbianstone.com/panama.htm