Assessment for Blacks in Panama

Risk Assessment | Analytic Summary | References

Risk Assessment

Panama has been in a period of transition since the United States ceased administering the Canal Zone. Though the country has lost both financial and political stability, what this means for Black Panamanians is not clear. Gentrification threatens to widen the economic gap between Blacks and other Panamanians, as does the closure of U.S. military bases, which had traditionally employed them. Since many Blacks had attended schools managed by the United States, they are now at a disadvantage when it comes to competing for Panamanian jobs. The good news is that political activism against blacks has not been observed in recent years. However, virtually complete absence of Panamanian Blacks in the Western English-language media sources may mask large-scale discrimination, poverty, and lack of advocacy. At present, Blacks do not seem to have mobilized to improve their situation. How such mobilization might develop in context of the economic and political changes in Panama is unknown.

Analytic Summary

Black immigration into Panama dates to two separate periods. The first was during the early 19th century, when African slaves from the Antilles were brought as a labor source for the Panamanian Railroad and an early attempt at a trans-isthmus canal. Most of this group returned, but a small group remained behind. The construction of the Panama Canal at the beginning of the 20th century brought another wave, which became a part of Panamanian society. Antillean Blacks who entered during the 20th century were subject to discrimination from both North Americans and from Panamanians -- North Americans exploited them as cheap labor, while Panamanians pressured them to leave. Many did, but a large community remained behind in the Canal Zone (GROUPCON = 1). The United States' canal policies placed the Antillean workforce at a lower pay scale; the effects are said to still be felt today in the poverty of most Antillean Blacks in the Canal Zone. These Antillean Blacks built up an insular culture that stressed maintenance of their individual, traditional lifeways and advancement through education. Their distinct Caribbean cultures persisted (LANG = 1) because of the racism and ethnic hostility Panamanians held toward them (ATRISK1 = 1).

Legal protections of all racial and ethnic groups have been enacted, but racial and ethnic discrimination has not ended. Formal segregation in the Canal Zone ended in 1979, and laws have been enacted to ensure equal treatment of almost all ethnic communities (RACE = 2). However, the US State Department reports that the presence of Black leaders in senior government positions is behind their proportions in society (POLSTAT= 2).

Three "Black Panamanian congresses" were held throughout the 1980s; the last mainly addressed the task facing all Panamanians in rebuilding after the American withdrawal, but all three have pointed out that Panamanian society continues to treat them as second-class citizens (POLDIS03 = 3, ECDIS03 = 3). There is no evidence within the past ten years of political activism on the part of Antillean Blacks. There are at least two political parties whose platforms are anti-Black, the

Arnulfista Party and the Authentic Panamanian Party, both formed in the 1980s. There is no evidence that the group has received any transnational support.

References

U.S. Dept of State. Background Notes 1994

U.S. Dept. of State Human Rights Report 1993

U.S. Dept. of State Human Rights Report 2001

U.S. Dept. of State Human Rights Report 2002

Area Studies Handbook for Panama, 1991

City-Net Internet site (http://www.city.net/)

Inter Press Service.

Reuters News Service.

Fourth World Development Project sponsored by the Center for World Indigenous Studies.

Lexis-Nexis: All News Files 1995 - 2003.