Weni Bagama

Weni Bagama is a Panamanian environmental activist fighting for the human rights of the largest comarca indígena (indigenous region) in Panama, NgöbeBuglé. Since 1997, the communities have been going against the national economic expansions, which rely on mining and, recently, hydropower. As of 2006, the Ngöbe-Buglé communities have been impacted by the Barro Blanco dam, a gravity dam located in the Tabasará River, due to its violation of territorial rights for the Ngöbe. Bagama is the leader of the M10 Movement of the Tabasara River, a resistance movement trying to put an end to the Barro Blanco. The rising waters from the dam’s testing have created the destruction of homes, ceremonial and archaeological sites, in addition to crops for the indigenous village. Other dam projects have caused devastation, leading to entire villages being swept away by water.

For the movement in the Ngöbe-Buglé community, women activists have been faced with violence, including systematic assault, imprisonment, and riot squads. Bagama and other Panamanian environmentalists hope the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights will put pressure on the government to fix the situation and stop the repression of environmental activism in Panama.