This article was written by Horacio Trottman, Carmen Boyd and Jahiro Polo and was originally published in the Panamanian newspaper “El Siglo“ on 25 May 2007. Back in May there was a burst of interest in these issues which has since died down somewhat. People who see themselves as victims of land-grab schemes constantly try to get journalists interested in their personal situations as a way to pressure government officials into action - they want to draw as much attention as possible to their accusations and complaints. Most notably, TVN Channel 2 sent a crew to Bocas del Toro and they shot an entire week-long special series. On the day that the series was supposed to air, TVN’s national signal went down. They ended up only showing the first of five segments, and the other four were never broadcast. The people in Bocas del Toro who have been impacted by these kinds of shenanigans are constantly looking for more press, and on the other side those who are paying off politicans and buying influence are no longer answering my telephone calls or emails. Oh well, that was kind of expected… (more)
Editor’s Comment: As you read this article please keep a couple of things in the back of your mind. For starters please remember that Jean Morales originally intended to sell only 35 of her 90 hectares of land. She is an illiterate indigenous Indian on Cayo de Agua. There is no doubt she did receive $100,000 in payment for the 35 hectares of land, that part of the deal is not in dispute. Jean Morales “signed” the Rights of Possession documents with her thumb-print, which is commonly done on the islands in Bocas del Toro when dealing with illiterate Indians. At the time of the transaction she did not receive a copy of the documents - she just put down her “thumb print” and the people left. Now supposedly I am told of a mystical and magical document which has appeared which supposedly bears the “signature” of Jean Morales. According to the stories I’ve heard (and, I have not yet seen a copy of this document) the document with her “signature” says she really intended to sell the entire 90 hectares for $100,000. Of course, this would be a miracle in the truest sense of the word because because Jean Morales has never signed any document in her entire life, ever! I call this the “Bocas Miracle.”
The Other 55 Hectares: Ricardo Palacio is the lifetime partner of Jean Morales. They were never married but lived together on Cayo de Agua for more than 40 years. While Jean Morales sold the 35 hectares to Cirilo McSween, the Rights of Possession over the other 55 hectares passed to Ricardo Palacio. He since passed them to his daughters Florencia and Cecilia Palacio, and his granddaughter Roxana Smith. These women still live in wooden shacks on this land today. It is common practice in the islands to sell the land to the “gringos” then to move inland (beyond the newly established land boundary) and set up housekeeping there. Now, lawyers for Cirilo McSween, specifically the same Carmen Sosa mentioned in this article, are going to Cayo de Agua and threatening to burn down the houses of Florencia Palacio, Cecilia Palacio, and Roxana Smith. These are poor illiterate Indian women who live with babies in the jungle in shacks made out of wood and straw roofs. Nothing illegal or immoral about that, no way…
What I’m Going To Do Next: I have asked the Palacio family to get me copies of the original documents bearing the famous “thumb print” of Jean Morales, which I am told both exists and is apparently available. In addition I intend to interview a Mr. Andino Archibald, the man who supposedly served as a trusted negotiator and facilitator for Juan Conquet on behalf of Cirilo McSween for the land purchase with Jean Morales. As the story goes, Jean Morales trusted Juan Antonio Conquet because of the presence and participation of Mr. Andino Archibald, a man trusted by the Indians. According to the Indians I spoke to on the island, Archibald is widely respected and trusted, and he will supposedly collaborate the story being told to me by Florencia Palacio, Cecilia Palacio, and Roxana Smith. Specifically, he will supposedly collaborate the part of the story saying that Jean Morales only intended to sell 35 hectares of land, and to keep the other 55 hectares for the rest of her family and the daughters of Ricardo Palacio.
More To Do: Next, I plan to interview Jean Morales herself - the woman who sold the 35 hectares (not 90 hectares) of land on Cayo de Agua. Then, I intend to obtain a copy of the document which supposedly bears a “signature” of Jean Morales for the purchase of this land, and I will show it to her. If she says it is a fake or forgery then I will help her take that claim to the PTJ and the prosecutors of the Public Ministry.
What About Daniel Ayora? In this article Cirilo McSween’s “Edict”, which is really just a public statement of his intention to try to obtain a concession to develop these lands on Cayo de Agua, talks about the extension of the land he wants to develop. In this “edict” are included the lands owned by Daniel Ayora who obtained Rights of Possession over (just) 3 hectares of land in 2003 for $30,000. He’s been there ever since, continuously developing the land and improving his stake. McSween’s “Edict” completely ignores the fact that Ayora exists, and equally ignores the fact that no two people can hold the Rights of Possession over the same land. McSween apparently intends to “grab” Ayora’s land as well.
Nothing Illegal or Immoral: When I spoke to Cirilo McSween on the phone he said that “I have done nothing either illegal or immoral” with regards to the manner in which he obtained the Rights of Possession over the lands he now claims to be his on Cayo de Agua. I have in my hands a document from the President of the Regional Congress of the No Kribo Region of the Ngobe Bugle Indigenous Reserve which represents the interests of several families of indigenous Indians on Cayo de Agua. Specifically the letter, dated 16 January 2007, specifies Juan Antonio Conquet, Carmen Silva, and Cirilo McSween as being involved both directly and indirectly (intermediaries) in illegal land sales on the island. This letter was addressed to Lic. Monica Perez as the “Defensoria del Pueblo”. It appears that Cesar Salazar, the President of the Regional Congress of the No Kribo Region of the Ngobe Bugle Indigenous Reserve, as well as Javier Selle (Secretary) and Clemente Jimenez (Legal Commissioner) all would disagree with that whole “nothing illegal or immoral” claim.
Not All Lawyers Are Created Equal: One more thing you should know - Carmen Sosa is also the lawyer for Cinco Cruces de Oro (a.k.a. Six Diamonds Resorts International (SDRI), Landbridge Holdings, and Frank Delape.) She’s also representing the guy who stabbed and killed a guy in a bar fight last week, because he was a Cinco Cruces de Oro employee. Sweet, lots of work for Carmen thanks to the gringos in Bocas. She’s driving a nice, new car. So is the Mayor of Bocas del Toro, by the way. Oh, almost forgot - Carmen started out as the lawyer for Dario Vanhorne but that relationship turned south when she jumped ship to the “other side” and started working for Cinco Cruces de Oro, and then promptly went to work to take Wild Cane Key away from Dario Vanhorne. Not a whole lot of respect for client - attorney privilege in Bocas, eh? Hey, where’s the Panamanian “dudes who hold law degree” association on that one? No conflict of interest thing there?
More to Come from Cayo de Agua: Obviously there’s a lot more to do there. I really don’t understand why people, investors of any stripe, can’t just come on down and play by the established rules. Daniel Ayora has no problem with Cirilo McSween’s claim to the land around his - but he has a serious (really serious) problem with the fact that Cirilo McSween apparently wants to take his land away. The Palacio sisters have no problem with the 35 hectares of land Jean Morales sold to Cirilo McSween, and they wonder why he can’t just do whatever he wants on that land (and leave them alone.) Why the “grab and greed” mentality? Basically, they don’t get it. And, all of these kinds of shenanigans make everyone else nervous. Basically anyone and everyone who is sitting on Rights of Possession land anywhere in the entire Bocas del Toro archipelago is watching this entire process like nervous fish because they want to know if they might be next.
Panama City - Wake the %uck Up! I keep waiting for the politicians and government officials in Panama City to take this bull(shit) by the horns, but so far the response has been lukewarm to say the least. Back door PTJ sources indicate they already have “enough information to put everyone in jail.” If that’s the case, then why has it not happened? What, exactly, are decision makers waiting for? Maybe they are waiting to see just exactly how much crap I can dredge out. Next stop, the offices of the Public Ministry…
Who Is Paying For This? For the most part those people who want me to help them bang the drum for justice. Daniel Ayora drove me down to Cayo de Agua in his boat, for example, and spent about $50 in gas. Dario Vanhorne takes me out to Wild Cane Key every time I’m in Bocas del Toro so I can take pictures of the “magical” house owned by Cinco Cruces de Oro which should not be there at all. “Paki” Gale, the owner of the “Limbo” hotel usually buys my lunch, which I eat while he tells me about the latest threats to his wife and family, and how his security guard was jumped by two “big black guys” at 3:00 am. He’s going to get me copies of the police reports and medical reports from the forensic medical examiner’s office. Paki, you see, also owns land on Cayo de Agua and a claim that’s being threatened by Cirilo McSween. And in between bites of pasta I take a call from Jerry Wheeler, who is fighting his own battles with Cinco Cruces de Oro over “first beach.” Jerry had his house burned down by Cinco Cruces de Oro.
Form an Association: All of those involved in these land-grab fights are in the process of forming an association to better manage their campaigns and individual fights. This will allow them to create, for example, a “checklist” of legal actions to take and claims to file. Their combined funds will help pay for legal support for people like the Palacios sisters who are basically ignorant and scared by lawyers making threats. The association can use their funds to hire lawyers and surveyors to draw up maps and to clarify claims, and to do simple things like have a few administrative workers to collect all of the pertinent documents and to put them all in one repository where they can be easily accessed. And, having such an association would allow me, as an investigative journalist, one place to wade through all of those documents to find patterns of actions which would be invisible to any one particular case or individual. In short, they have to get organized or they will be picked off, one by one. Even people who have Rights of Possession not currently under threat could join such an association to lend support and to lobby for an improvement to the way things are being done now. Because, in short, Bocas is a friggin’ mess.
And Now, The Article: Call this an article within an article. Translating this “El Siglo” article from last May got me going again. Maybe I’ll go digging through the archives for more. In any case, without further adieu…
“A Friend of Martín Acquires Land”
El Siglo - 25 May 2007
By Horacio Trottman, Carmen Boyd and Jahiro Pole
Cayo de Agua, Bocas del Toro: The area of Punta Laurel in Bocas del Toro is a wonder of nature, comprised of small islands, estuaries, reefs, and small barren islands of mangroves. They form an ecosystem rich in diverse marine species. The area was attractive to the indigenous native Indians as well as blacks of Afro-Antillean heritage of the coastal regions of Punta Valiente and the Cayo de Agua island forms part of this paradise, where the natives took root in small communities.
In order to arrive at this community we boarded a small boat in the Bay of Altamirante, crossing the lagoon of the archipelago of Bocas del Toro, then the lagoon of the Dolphins, passing Isla Popa and the Loma Partida before reaching our objective some two hours later.
Foreign Owners: During two days in the island, “El Siglo” corroborated that at about ever 150 meters along the beaches of the island there are signs that say “Private Property: McSween.” The signs belong to an investor named Cirilo McSween Jr., from the United States, who realized a transaction with the Backer family, buying their Rights of Possession for 88 hectares of land on Cayo de Agua island for $1 million dollars.
Cirilo McSween Sr. was the man trusted by General Omar Torrijos Herrera to educate his son, who is now Panama’s President Martin Torrijos. Cirilo McSween Sr. is a prosperous businessman who owns a chain of McDonald’s restaurants in Illinois, and he would eventually name Martin Torrijos as the administrative manager of of one of his restaurants in Chicago area.
“El Siglo” learned from political sources that President Martin Torrijos made a private trip to Chicago Illinois on 12 May 2007 to visit Cirilo McSween Sr., who is reportedly in ill health.
Much Interest: The indigenous Indians on the islands were initially against the creation of a “Reordering” in the insular (or coastal) areas because they were afraid the new laws would benefit those with economic power and that the natives would be evicted from their lands.
Behind everything: There is a general displeasure among the members of the eleven Backer families. Gilberio Jal, the oldest grandson of Aurelio Backer, expressed his displeasure and said that “they sold us.” Seated on a wood bank he explained the land sale. He said his grandfathers were the sole owner of these lands and that the sale was “not consulted” because they should have held a family meeting to discuss the sale and that the meeting did not take place.
“He just sold the land, and they relocated the eleven families on these two hectares, where Mr. McSween promised to build eleven houses of wood and metal roofs with all the extras, but it did not happen that way,” he said.
Unfulfilled Promises: The sale was conditional to the relocation of the eleven families, the construction of eleven houses each with two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, dining room, bathrooms with toilets, as well as an aqueduct (water supply.) In addition the two hectares of land was supposed to be divided into eleven equal parts.
According to Jal the sale of the land has divided the Backer family because only some of them have received money from their grandfathers. One can notice a sense of hermetism with the Backer family on the subject and the family members referred us to Lubio Backer, who we were unable to speak to. In Gilberio Jal’s opinion there was something more to the negotiation, because he now compares the prices for hectares and asks how is it possible that his grandfathers sold 40 hectares for only $250,000.
It is known that the Backer family used Juan Conquet as the intermediary in the land sale with the American (Cirilo McSween.) What’s more, McSween asks Panama’s the National Tax office through the Ministry of Economy and Finance to buy these lands with edict number 263-2006 of 23 May 2006. In addition McSween published Edict Number 25,585 in the “Gaceto Oficial” which contains the general information related to the process, which describes McSween’s request to purchase land measuring 88 hectares plus 911.65 additional meters of land (the land acquired from the Rights of Possession from the Backer family.
According to McSween the land bordered on the North by the Caribbean Sea, on the south by an unnamed stream, to the East Lands of the Nation occupied by the Hotel El Limbo, and on the West by the Caribbean Sea and an access. But what the buyers of these lands have not said yet is that they plan to construct a resort hotel with luxurious rooms, swimming pools and other infrastructures for American and European tourists.
The Tax Office: According to the director of the Tax Office in Bocas del Toro, Roberto Prestán, the transaction made by McSween with the Backer family is only for the Rights of Possession of these lands. Prestán said that it can not be called a purchase, because the office he presides over (the Tax Office or :Cadastro”) has not received any documents regarding the purchase of land on the islands.
Prestán said McSween should present the mega-tourist project he intends to develop in Panama (City), while (his) Tax Office in Bocas del Toro will make estimates to quantify the economic scale of the project, and then Panama might give a concession to develop the lands.
More hectares: “El Siglo” spoke with McSween’s lawyer Carmen Sosa, who said her client acquired the Rights of Possession for a total of 363 hectares of land on Cayo de Agua island, divided in the following manner: 100 hectares from Julián Morales, 90 hectares from Jean Morales, 88 from the Backer Family, 70 from the Chuito family, and 15 from the Taylor family.
Carmen Sosa said McSween paid $1 million dollars to the Backer family for their lands, but did not specify how much McSween paid to the other families. Carmen Sosa said McSween will have to present a master plan to Panama’s Tourism Institute (IPAT), and that it will be evaluated by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), the General Comprtoller’s Office of the Republic, as well as Panama’s National Environmental Authority (ANAM.)
She added that employees from the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) should travel to the island to evaluate the land to prepare a tax assessment.
The entire island measures approximately 400 hectares total.
He Wants To Invest: “El Siglo” contacted Cirilo McSween Jr. who confirmed his interest in acquiring some land for, in the future, a tourist development. However, he explained there is nothing set in stone yet, because he still does not have an answer from the Panamanian government with regards to the concession he is requesting over his plans to develop the lands in question and to address the issue regarding his Rights of Possession over the lands.
“What interests me is investing in Bocas del Toro and my idea is to acquire a very small extension of land on one island and for that I have negotiated the purchase of some Rights of Possession,” he said. He added that in spite of having in his possession the documents (regarding the Rights of Possession) he still has not been able to obtain the concession from the state because “I understand that the bureaucratic process is very long and very complicated.”
“I know that you can not buy land directly from the government, and that part of the process is that you have to obtain permissions from several governmental authorities and then request a concession, but part of that is you first must have the Rights of Possession that this we already have,” he said. He said that his lawyer, Carmen Sosa, is in charge of the proceedings, and that he has not participated in the proceedings, except for the purchase of the Rights of Possession, for which he has already invested “enough.”
“I have bought Rights of Possession from more people in Bocas del Toro, and that they were interested in selling”, he said. It said that in spite of the personal relationship between his family Panama’s President Martin Torrijos, he has not received any help from the government in the purchase of these lands.
SOURCE: Don Winner @ Panama-guide.com
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