Yaviza
Coordinates: 8 ° 11 ′ N , 77 ° 41 ′ W
Yaviza is a small town in the Pinogana district of the Darién province of the Central American state of Panama with 4,441 inhabitants (2010 census) .
geography
Yaviza is located in the east of Panama at the confluence of the Yaviza river with the Chucunaque , whose main tributaries are the Río Chico and the Chiatí . The Chucunaque is the main tributary of the Tuira , through which Yaviza is connected to the Bay of San Miguel in the Pacific .
It is best known as the end point of the Carretera del Darién , the last section of the Carretera Panamericana in Central America. In addition, transport to Colombia through the swamp and jungle area of Darién is only possible by ferry, canoe or via unpaved roads. This only missing link of the Panamericana between North and South America is therefore also known as Tapón del Darién (Spanish for Darién plug ).
The city is the starting point for visits to the Darién National Park , whose administration is based in the relatively nearby El Real de Santa María .
history
Yaviza was founded on September 7, 1638 as San Jerónimo de Yaviza to proselytize the Indians of Darién and to "civilize" them in settlements. However, this only succeeded to a limited extent; the Indians largely kept their freedom in the barely controllable area. In 1740 the missionary efforts were renewed by Jesuit fathers. In the 1770s a Spanish garrison fortress was founded in Yaviza - as in other places in the region - to pacify and subjugate the Kuna and Chocó Indians. The gold deposits in the riverside area also played a role . Most of the forts in Darién were abandoned as early as the 1790s. Overall, Yaviza initially did not flourish as an outpost of civilization, the area inhabited by Indians and blacks largely eluded the exercise of power.
Over time, however, it developed into a trading center for goods from the local economy, which traditionally consisted of bananas , roots ( cassava ), fish, etc. brought to the market by the Chocó Indians ( Embera and Wounaan ) . In the 1970s the Carretera Panamericana reached Yaviza, but on the last few kilometers from Meteti or Chepo it looks more like a highway than a paved dirt road. Nevertheless, Yaviza's position as a transshipment point was significantly strengthened. Yaviza also has an airfield, Santa Fé Airport ( IATA airport code PYV).
Since the Darién area has increasingly become a retreat for the FARC guerrillas and paramilitaries in the Colombian civil war since the 1990s, Yaviza has once again become a police outpost. On the other hand, it became a supply point for fighters hidden in the jungle; Yaviza and the surrounding area are also a transshipment point for smuggled goods (drugs, weapons) coming from or going to Colombia .
literature
- Sven Less: The gap on the river. Süddeutsche Zeitung, February 16, 2012, No. 39, Reise, page 36 (travel report)
Web links
- Development plan of the Republic of Panama (and the OAS) for the Darién region (1978) (Spanish)
- Ben Ryder Howe, Panama's Darién Gap - An Impossible Place To Be ( Memento from March 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), Outside Magazine, September 2004 (Eng.)
Individual evidence
- ^ Yaviza Panama Drive end of Pan-American Highway Darién Gap . In: Trans-Americas Journey . October 3, 2014 ( trans-americas.com [accessed August 22, 2017]).
- ↑ Sven Less: The end of the Panamericana in Yaviza in FAZ from June 18, 2014, page R4