{"id":865,"date":"2025-10-28T13:06:22","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T13:06:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/noapuertobaru.com\/?p=865"},"modified":"2025-10-28T16:30:33","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T16:30:33","slug":"defenders-panama-latin-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/noapuertobaru.com\/en\/articles-2\/defenders-panama-latin-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Environmental defense under attack: the reality of defenders in Panama and Latin America"},"content":{"rendered":"

When rights are not enough<\/b><\/h3>\n

The world is going through an era of contradictions. The states that sign climate treaties and enact environmental protection laws are often the same ones that allow mega-projects that destroy the ecosystems they swear to protect. In Panama, a pioneer country in recognizing the <\/span>Rights of Nature<\/b>, This paradox is embodied in a new symptom: the <\/span>systematic discrediting of people who defend the environment<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

A global pattern, a Panamanian reality<\/b><\/h3>\n

According to the report <\/span>Defenders of the Earth 2024<\/span><\/i><\/a> of <\/span>Global Witness<\/b>, In 2024, Latin America remains the most dangerous region in the world for those who defend the land and the environment., <\/span>82% of the murders<\/b> They occurred on the continent. But aggression is not always physical: it is also exercised through words, defamation, and campaigns of discrediting.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Panama, the cycle is clear: communities and NGOs warn about the impacts of projects like <\/span>Puerto Baru<\/b> in Chiriqu\u00ed; authorities and companies respond by labeling them \u201canti-development\u201d or \u201cradical\u201d; and the speeches are amplified on social media, <\/span>legitimating silence and impunity<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

When official discourse denies science<\/b><\/h3>\n

The <\/span>Technical report of<\/b> Lynker<\/b><\/a> Puerto Bar\u00fa Independent Evaluation (December 6, 2024)<\/span> demonstrates that the project <\/span>Puerto Baru<\/b> It contradicts the country's climate and legal commitments. Its construction in the protected area of the <\/span>Mangroves of David<\/b>, <\/span>It is home to dolphins, birds, monkeys, iguanas, fish, crustaceans and mollusks. Data show that important populations of humpback and Bryde whales, critically endangered Pacific blue sharks (Carcharhinus cerdale), and the shortfin mako shark (Manta barbata) inhabit the Gulf of Chiriqu\u00ed, including areas near the proposed navigation channel of the Panama Canal. <\/span>Puerto Baru project<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the official narrative insists that the project will \u201cbring development and employment,\u201d while hiding that the access channel will cross a protected ecosystem, weakening coastal resilience and <\/span>putting Panama's climate commitments at risk<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

When defending the truth becomes a crime<\/b><\/h3>\n

Instead of addressing the evidence, environmental advocates are subject to <\/span>insults, harassment and misinformation<\/b>. Recent videos show how activists who demand compliance with the law are ridiculed in a strategy that seeks to <\/span>eroding the credibility of those who defend life<\/b>. Behind every discredited face are lawyers, journalists, scientists, and communities fighting for a basic right: living in a healthy environment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Breaking the cycle<\/b><\/h3>\n

Violence begins with impunity and ends in silence. To break that cycle, laws are not enough: what is needed is will. <\/span>Institutions that protect human rights defenders and listen to science<\/b>. Panama has a historic opportunity. Its <\/span>Law on the Rights of Nature (2022)<\/b> It can be a real shield against destruction if applied consistently. But as long as those who defend the mangroves are ridiculed and extractive projects advance, <\/span>the law will remain just a paper<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sources and references:<\/b><\/h3>\n