Bocas Unidos Foundation

Correction and Clarification - Quote by Alma Montenegro de Fletcher

Thursday, October 25 2007

Alma Montenegro de Fletcher

Text and Photo By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Yesterday in Bocas del Toro I hooked up with Dario Vanhorne to see what was happening on Wild Cane Key. Remember that the National \"Catastro\" (Tax) Office has issued Resolution #350 ordering local government officials to evict everyone from Wild Cane Key, to remove any and all structures on the island, and to prevent anyone from entering the island. To date local officials in Bocas del Toro have not complied with that national order. In my meeting with Alma Montenegro de Fletcher on 11 October 2007 she told me local officials had assured her they were in compliance with the order from Catastro. To be clear (and, this is the clarification part) Lic. Alma Montenegro de Fletcher was relaying to me what she had been told by local officials. She herself did not know the status based on her own observations, but rather she was just telling me what she had been told.

Shack still there on Wild Cane Key

The Building Is Still There: In case you were wondering, the shack owned by Cinco Cruces de Oro is still on wild cane key. I took this picture yesterday afternoon at about 4:10 pm. The workers have apparently pulled the \"zinc\" roofing panels down from the top of the structure and stacked them in such a was as to give them a place to \"hide\" from observation from a passing boat or from the mainland. As we were motoring out there we passed a boat belonging to Cinco Cruces de Oro. They had just picked up their employees who stay on the island every day until 4:00 pm (quitting time.) In any case there's no doubt about it - the local officials in Bocas del Toro are continuing to refuse to enforce the national level order from Catastro.

\"Alma Is Upset With You\" Huh? Why? I got finished doing some investigation and interviews on Cayo de Agua and called Dario Vanhorne. I had just enough time to motor over to Wild Cane Key to see what was going on. \"I'll me there in 15 minutes...\" he said, and he came over to pick me up. He told me that he had called the offices of the National Council for Transparency Against Corruption and spoken to Gina de la Guardia who is one of the lawyers that works for their organization. Gina told Dario that Alma was \"upset\" with me for having misquoted her in my earlier article \"Bocas del Toro - Out Of Control and Off The Reservation\". I told Dario that I would contact the offices of Alma Montenegro de Fletcher first thing this morning to find out what the problem was.

Who Said What: I spoke to Gina and they were concerned about the way I quoted Alma Montenegro de Fletcher. To be perfectly clear on this issue and point - in our conversation Alma Montenegro de Fletcher told me (relayed to me) what local officials in Bocas had told her (or promised to her or had guaranteed to her) - that they had complied with the order. Alma was simply relaying this to me, telling me what they had told her. I responded by letting her know that the buildings are still there. And, they are still there today.

Fixing the Article, Adding a Note: I'm going to add this article, which I am writing specifically to make sure that I quoted Alma Montenegro de Fletcher accurately, into the original article. In addition, I changed the text of the original article to more accurately express what Alma Montenegro de Fletcher was telling me. She had no way of knowing if the buildings were there or not, and I did misquote her. For that I apologize and hopefully this corrects my error and clarifies the situation. In any case, the building is still there and the order has not been complied with. Now, hopefully we can get back to the important stuff.