As I discussed in my last post, I recently took a trip to Panama and Colombia with my father and a few other co-workers in hopes of finding work there. My dad has done an excellent job of describing how it went at his blog, but I thought I would add a few thoughts of my own, especially in relation to my previous experiences in Latin America.
As he mentioned, the first thing that jumps out at you upon arrival to Panama is the level of development. It is rather remarkable to see a city that has literally been built within the last four years, specifically when it is vertical development as opposed to Los Angeles type sprawl. The skyline of Panama lends itself a certain air of sophistication that a lot of other Latin American cities are missing. I also found that this sophistication extended itself to the people as well, as we truly found some of the nicer hosts we have ever come across the next few days. Most of what I noticed and encountered was already discussed by my Dad quite well, so I thought I would share a few of the lessons I took away from the trip in general.
Most of us from the United States have a tendency to think of Latin America as an autonomous region where there is little difference between the nations. Any person who has travelled to more than one country in the area can tell you how false this is. I have now been to every country in Central America besides Honduras and Belize and this most recent trip was a reminder that each nation has its’ own very unique identity.
Panama has a unique blend of cultures with Spanish, American, Colombian, and even Afro-Caribbean influences. They also seemed to have a far smaller indigenous population than their neighboring countries which certainly shapes their identity differently. Their independence is relatively new and much of their culture today reminds me of a young twenty-something that is making good money for the first time in their life: Their intentions are good but unfortunately there are going to be speed bumps. In this case the speed bump is the growing gap between the haves and have nots, which is directly a result of the massive development that cannot possibly benefit everyone. However, I learned that there seems to be a great recognition of this from upper-class Panamanians and although it is very uncharacteristic for Latin America, there seems to be great concern in solving this problem. We met with several prominent and wealthy Panamanians who all upon having their country complimented, spoke instantly of the need to invest into infrastructure and not squander the opportunity at equality the recent economic growth gives them. These were not the statements of politicians to reporters, they all were in the context of private conversations and all seemed quite genuine. Latin America has a bad history of racism and class warfare, and to hear this coming from the “elite” of a country certainly made me feel optimistic for the prospects of the country.
What further struck me about the recent success in Panama is that it has coincided with the first real few years of independence for the country. On December 31st, 1999, at about a minute before midnight the operation, control, and ownership of the canal was formally turned over to the Panamanians marking the first time in their nation’s history in which they controlled their future. Most people know that the United States policy towards Latin America has been one of intervention and involvement, mainly perpetuated by a belief that these nations were incapable of governing themselves. In fact, in the years and months leading up to the Canal transfer, many American leaders attempted to prove that once in the hands of the Panamanians the canal would somehow fail costing untold billions in damages to companies who use the thoroughfare. What my brief visit to Panama taught me was that the leaders of this country, despite basic growing pains, are more than prepared to govern themselves and seem poised to invest their current prosperity to maximize long term growth and sustainability (as opposed to say every Middle Eastern leader).
I don’t have too much to say about Colombia, mainly because I was only there for about two days or so and could therefore gauge little about the country. Progress seems to have been made in regards to the safety within the country but this seems to have come somewhat at the expense of the nation’s overall economic strength. Most of the people we spoke to seemed to be pleased that it was safer but claimed the economy was in bad shape and that the Government is misleading on reporting economic figures like unemployment. The city of Bogota itself is beautiful and despite some bad weather, I enjoyed the country and would love an opportunity to return and see more.
I will upload my photos to my flickr account which can be accessed here and will try to place titles that explain what you are looking at.
