The DariÉn Gap A looking-glass into colombia
Bernardo Mercado, Shell The first settlement in the Darién Gap (Tapón de Darién), and on the mainland Americas was started by the Spanish in 1510, only to have it later torched after 14 years. Similarly, the Scottish attempted to set up a colony here, sending 1200 settlers in 1698. Few returned, and the ill fate of the colony survives in the history of the Kuna Indians, as well as the financial ruining and eventual incorporation of the country into the United Kingdom, which they had resisted for so long. The topography and physical landscape vary between the two countries: in Colombia (one of the most biodiverse countries in the world), the area is dominated by the flat marshland, due to the river delta of the Atrato. There is also a mountain range extending from Colombia’s Pacific coast into Panama, covered mostly by rainforest. To enter from Panama, you must register with the border police (Servicio Nacional de Fronteras, or Senafront) who guard the dangerous area, who can turn you back at any point. Drawing back through Colombian History
Though the region has been one never fully under Colombian (or any) control, we can use it as a marker of some aspects of past Colombia, as well as mention its geopolitical context, as this is an area surprisingly relevant to Colombian and Panamanian history as well as some issues of the region. Not withstanding the lack of control governments have had on the area, it is the location where criminal activities and rebel groups are natural drawn to – not a revelation, but the huge relevance and part of Colombian history the lines drawn over it and the substances which flow in and out play is surprising and can be twisted quite well into a tale of the history of Colombia, from its conception as Gran Colombia, to where it is now. Its being divided between two countries has some significance, both as a symbol of Panamanian independence and foreign influence. It was the US that aided Panama and rebels in gaining independence from Bogotá, with which it had no land route. The departing of Panama was in large part due to the effects of the Thousand Days’ War, which had had sever repercussions, and caused continued instability in government. The Isthmus Department declared independence and, with US bigger-navy diplomacy, seceded, though the news was delayed by a couple of days and reached Bogotá on November 6, 1903. The US had aided Panama largely because of the potential of the Panama canal, and after Colombia had proved a more difficult negotiator, backed Panamanian rebels, and instead took the land in a treaty (the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty) signed by no Panamanians, establishing the Panama Canal Zone as US territory. This was one of the multiple countries that seceded from what was originally Gran Colombia, which had become Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia (then New Granada), the latter of which Panama eventually too seceded from, finalising the failure of Bolívar’s vision. Another large aspect of the Darién Gap are the guerrilla groups, which to this day, still operate in the area, carrying out drug trafficking and killing and torturing many making their journey through
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