Risky Road Building in Panama

The U.S. Army’s Southern Command, based in the Panama Canal Zone, should think twice before it commits to building roads near Panama’s vanishing rain forests--at least until a careful assessment of the project’s environmental impact has been made.

Under a compromise agreement with the Panama government, several thousand National Guardsmen will descend in January on a buffer zone that protects Panama’s precious rain forest from urban encroachment and begin building a 7.2-mile stretch of a proposed 43.2-mile road as training project. But is it more than an exercise?

Timothy Wirth, undersecretary of State for global affairs, and Brian Atwood, the administrator of the Agency for International Development, wrote Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott arguing for a delay in the work. Twice before, the Panama government approached AID seeking assistance for the project. Both requests were turned down because the project did not meet U.S. environmental standards.

What is at risk in Panama is more deforestation in a wilderness zone. Much of the soil has already been so badly degraded that it is unsuited to agriculture. It is also feared that road construction in the area could adversely affect marine habitats in the nearby Caribbean Sea.

Unfortunately, Panama President Ernesto Perez Balladares, in whose home district the road will run, did not want to take no for an answer. Armed with a powerful ally, U.S. Ambassador to Panama William J. Hughes, Balladares recently approached the Southern Command with a personal appeal. He told U.S. military officers that the Panama government had done its own environmental assessment and concluded the project would have “minimal to no impact.” Not surprisingly, the officers agreed to build the road.

Wirth and Atwood, in a letter to Talbott, argued that the environmental implications for the region “are even greater than previously envisioned.” Their request for a more thorough environmental impact report made sense. The matter was settled late last month with the compromise. Only the seven-mile stretch would be built by Americans. Nor would they undertake any more road building in Panama when environmental issues were raised. The solution left neither side particularly happy, but on balance left the environment in better shape than it might have been.

The Southern Command certainly should not spend U.S. taxpayers’ money to fulfill the campaign promises of a Panamanian politician. If the National Guardsmen want urgent training in road-building, there must be other places the Pentagon can send them, including sites in the United States. And next time, this sort of business should be handled through the front door.