Bocas Unidos Foundation

Bocas Judge Grants Land to Employee in His Office

Tuesday, February 05 2008

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Panamanian Circuit Court Judge Manuel Ramón García Vargas recently decided to grant ownership of ten hectares of land on Isla Solarte in Bocas del Toro to the Gaslin family, and ordered the eviction of Veronica Castillo and her family from the land they have been living on for more than 31 years. Veronica Castillo works at an Internet Cafe called the \"Bravo Center\" in Bocas del Toro. She contacted me last week because someone had told her I was actively investigating problems with land and corruption in Bocas del Toro, and perhaps I could help her in some way. She described how someone with the last name \"Gaslin\" had filed a legal action against her father's land and had managed to win a decision against her family in local court. According to Veronica, they were using a combination of corrupt local officials and old documents to basically steal ten hectares of land from her family on Isla Solarte - land her family has been living on for the past 31 years. Local government officials, specifically the Judicial Secretary in Bocas del Toro backed up by thirteen Panamanian National Police officers, physically evicted her family from the three houses they were occupying. Workers were called in and ordered to tear down their houses. The eviction occurred on 8 November 2007 and was executed by the order of First Circuit Court Judge Manuel Ramón García Vargas, who apparently based his decision to evict Veronica Castillo and her family from the land they had occupied under Rights of Possession for more than 31 years on an old title dating from 1917.

Water Taxi in Bocas del Toro - There are several islands closely clustered together near Bocas Town on Isla Colon, specifically Cayo Carenero, Isla Bastimentos, and Isla Solarte. You can hop into a water taxi and get around for a buck or two, depending on the number of passengers and distance. (Photo: Don Winner for www.Panama-Guide.com)

Back to Bocas: It's nearly impossible to separate fact from fiction from smoke screen in Bocas del Toro without actually being there. What's more you can't sit in a restaurant in Bocas somewhere and speculate what might be happening on some other island. For me it's critically important to actually go there and to talk to the people involved in these cases. I want to meet them face to face, to look into their eyes, compare stories, and ask hard questions. It just so happens on this trip I caught one primary player in a flat-out lie. He understandably became uncomfortable to the point of extreme agitation when pressed. Whatever; it's just something he will have to deal with later. In any case, the point is that you have to actually be there in order to figure out exactly what's floating in the soup. And even when it's right in your face sometimes things are not as they appear on the surface.

Meet the Hired Help: This is the guy and his family who have been hired to live in Veronica Castillo's father's house. Their name's are not really all that important, and in fact I'm leaving them out of the text of this article on purpose. These people are simply the hired help. I took this picture from the boat when we pulled up in front of the house where Veronica Castillo's father had lived for 31 years. When I asked him about what was going on he started talking to me but ended up speaking directly to Veronica, saying \"I know you and I know your father. I know this was his land for a long, long time and I know you grew up here. I have no dispute with you or your family. I have just been hired to live here and I'm just doing a job. I hope you can understand that there is no personal conflict between me and your family.\" Well, that's all I needed to hear from this guy. Veronica agreed, saying that she has know this man for a long time and that her dispute is not with him as an individual. Rather, her dispute is with the people who took her land away from her, not their employees.

Little Boat Pier: This is the little boat pier next to Veronica Castillo's father's house. Most of the properties in Bocas del Toro are on the water, and everyone gets around in small boats. (Photo: Don Winner for www.Panama-Guide.com.)

Meanwhile, Back on Isla Solarte: I accompanied Veronica Castillo on a tour of the land her family had occupied for 31 years. She showed me where they had planted pineapple and other cash crop plants, which they sell when they come ripe. The parcel of land is about ten hectares total, with four structures. She showed me her father's house, her brother's house, and her house. She said she was born elsewhere but they came to the island to live when she was ten years old. And I don't think you will be able to find anyone in Bocas del Toro who would be able to dispute that this family has a long established (and authentic) rights of possession claim over this land.

Veronica's Brother's House: Veronica described this as her brother's house.

Why \"Authentic\" ROP Claim? Because \"creating paper\" is a big part of the game in Bocas del Toro. When push comes to shove and shove goes to court, usually the side with the best (and most) paperwork wins. And in the case of poor Indian land owners they almost never have the economic resources to take an appeal to the Superior Court in David or the Panamanian Supreme Court in Panama City. So, if you win at the local level most of the time you're just about done. With that having been said, there is a big incentive for people to \"create\" piles of paperwork, over time, in an attempt to strengthen their Rights of Possession claim over a certain parcel of land. Those who have failed to do so end up with less paperwork, and eventually less land. In the case of Veronica Castillo I am convinced, simply by having heard the conversation between her and the guy who has been hired to \"squat\" in her father's house, that what she is telling me is true. Her story is so outrageous there is now basically a line of lawyers looking to represent her.

The \"Old Title\" Trick: There are several patterns of conduct which repeat with regards to prying Rights of Possession property out of the hands of their rightful owners. In this case, a family named \"Gaslin\" has apparently convinced Circuit Court Judge Manuel Ramón García that their old land title from 1917 was valid enough to forcibly evict the entire Castillo family from the land they had been on for 31 years. That's been happening a lot on the islands lately. As a matter of fact, it's a pattern of conduct that's been popping up more and more frequently. I guess I should mention exquisite mansions owned by foreigners actually sandwich the property formerly owned by the Castillo family. As a matter of fact one of their (former) neighbors marked the channel so he could better navigate his sailing yacht to his private pier. The quaint little shack where Veronica's father lived all his life is worthless - but the land it sits on is worth millions. I wonder, why would a local judge decide in favor of someone holding an old title like that?

Veronica's House: Veronica was building this house when their family was evicted from the land. We saw it from the water and she describes it as being incomplete and still under construction.

It Remains To Be Seen: First of all there is an obvious economic incentive for wanting to steal the land from the Castillo family. So, who is behind the stealing? That's the part I can't talk about right now, for several reasons. But here's one really interesting tidbit of information I just turned up - if you check the payroll of the Judicial Branch of the Republic of Panama you will see that Judge Manuel Garcia Vargas is listed at position #00129. Then, right below him at position #00133 you will see a listing for Eric De Leon Gaslin \"Estenógrafo II\". And from what I understand young Eric is the grandson of the original title holders of this land and is the person who is (supposedly) taking this legal action against the Castillo family. Go figure. This creates a tremendous conflict of interest in this case - with the judge basically deciding the case in favor of one of this employees to take 10 hectares of land away from the Castillo family. Hey, someone get me the cell phone number for Ana Matilde Gomez - I have another one for her...

Worthless Lawyer: At the time their land was taken away the Castillo family was supposedly being represented by a lawyer named Emilio Arrocha. There is a woman in the Gaslin family somewhere who owns a hotel, and after the land was taken away Veronica Castillo found out that her own lawyer was staying at the hotel owned by the Gaslin family - the very same people who were taking her land. Again, incredible conflict of interest. And besides that, the lawyer Arrocha apparently did an exceptionally bad job at representing their case. He just told them not to worry and that everything was going to be alright, but in reality he was missing appointments and deadlines, and basically being a very (very) bad lawyer. In other words, it looks like he basically lost the case on purpose, according to Veronica Castillo.

The Part I Can't Talk About Yet: Believe it or not I'm only telling you half of the story. There is a big part of this case that I simply can not talk about yet because the cat is supposedly still in the bag. I personally don't buy into that concept all so much. I think whatever happens in Bocas del Toro makes it around the coconut telegraph in about thirty seconds or less. But in any case it's irrelevant because I'm honoring an agreement I made to keep my mouth shut about specific aspects and elements of what's going on, for now.

The Big Squeeze: Before too long a whole raft of people are (supposedly) going to have their gonads in the vice and some official squeezing will commence. I'm looking forward to hearing the tone and tenor of the squealing produced as a result of said squeezing.

Don't Like How I'm Doing Things? Lately many of the \"sand fleas\" of the world have been bitching about how I'm conducting by business and wondering just exactly what is going on. By \"sand fleas\" I mean the people who habitually read every word I write and then bitch about it to no end. Believe it or not I have a kind of \"counter-following,\" wacky people who are quite literally obsessed with me and Panama-Guide. In honor of the Bocas del Toro investigation, I hereby dub these idiots \"sand fleas.\" And, they don't like the way I've decided to conduct business of late. Who cares, right?

What About Everyone Else? Exactly. The Sand fleas are best ignored but usually even they reflect a degree of reality. Without a doubt my decision to pull down the articles I had previously published about questionable land deals in Bocas del Toro has created a \"what the hell\" effect. And it's perfectly understandable to wonder just what the hell is going on. I would like to say that I know - I got it, and I agree with you. As I have said in the past just please have a little bit of patience and the whole story will be coming along shortly. But for now I have to sit tight on parts and pieces of this in order to honor an agreement I made.

What Happened: I can tell you that I have not been intimidated, coerced, bought out, or negotiated away from anything. In fact there is a significant possibility I might have made some serious mistakes, especially with regards to the tone and tenor of the first series of articles. At the very least I was only writing one side of the story. Now I have much greater access to information, and given that access I now have a much improved degree of clarity and visibility.

Who Matters Most: I have been speaking regularly with all of the people who actually do have a dog in this fight, specifically Karan and Willy Schreiber, Jerry Wheeler, Paki Gale, Dario Van Horne, the guys from Red Frog, the guys from Cinco Cruces, as well as people like Veronica Castillo and Jim Morales. And beyond them, there are probably dozens (if not hundreds) of land grab cases going on that have never been reported in the press.

Why It's Tough: Analyzing this kind of stuff is hard for several reasons;

Bullshit, Truth, or Truth (that's bullshit): Everyone I talk to seems to be completely convinced that their version of events is 100% correct. Others just lie straight to my face. Others only tell me those bits and pieces of \"fact and reality\" they want you to know about, but then conveniently neglect to mention the details in their story which could potentially blow gaping holes in their claims. So, I'm left with a mix bag of half-truths, being told by people who are all either trying to convince me of something or who are totally convinced themselves. I mean, it's not a lie if you believe it to be true in your heart of hearts, right? And what if you've been bullshitted yourself?
Corrupt Government Officials: A big player in this whole mess seems to be a string of corrupt local government officials in Bocas del Toro. And it's not like those guys are going to go on the record with \"yup, you got me. I've been taking bribes for years...put three kids through collage with the little 'extras' I can snatch with this job...\" Pesky independent reporters don't have any actual power to do anything except ask questions and compare one version against another. It's up to the actual authorities to do something about the (apparent) rampant corruption in Bocas del Toro. I'm still waiting.
Smoke Screens: When people are doing the wrong thing they want to create misdirection, to muddy the waters, and to confuse the issue. It's hard enough trying to figure out what's going on, and efforts to further confuse the issues don't make my job any easier.
Low Government Wages: Some of these guys get paid (officially) very little, and some are now getting even less. When I started writing this paragraph I checked with the \"transparency\" section of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, which runs the \"Catastro\" office, to see exactly how much Ing. Roberto Prestán Medrano is getting paid. Guess what? He's not on their payroll, at least not officially. The word around town lately is that he was sent off \"on vacation\" or that he was transferred to somewhere else, but according to the MEF payroll for February 2008 he's apparently been fired. The latest from the Coconut Telegraph has him working in the PRONAT office, but he's not listed on their payroll either. So, that one remains to be cleared up. It matters because apparently Ing. Roberto Prestán Medrano signed a lot of the paperwork while he was in the position of the Regional Director of the Office of Catastro.
The Judge Is Listed: According to the payroll from the Judicial Branch of the Panamanian government, Judge Manuel Ramón García Vargas is listed at position #00129, under Manuel Garcia Vargas, Juez De Circuito (Circuit Court Judge) making $2,610 per month with an additional $300 in expenses. So is his stenographer, Eric de Leon Gaslin.
The System is the Problem: Or rather it would be more accurate to say that the lack of a capable and efficient system is the cause of most of the problems over land ownership in Bocas del Toro. How can anyone come in there to spend millions of dollars to build a first class real estate development given the current state of chaos that exists? The executive branch of the Panamanian government has one tool they can use to help sort this out. It is within their power to grant land titles or to recognize existing titles through the PRONAT system. Then, if someone wants to come along and challenge your title in court, they will be fighting an uphill battle because the government has recognized and certified the title you're holding in your hands as valid. Any potential usurper would have another hurdle to overcome. This Rights of Possession (bullshit) is causing most of the problems, and it needs to be fixed. The \"system\" simply can not handle multi million dollar direct foreign investments, from Red Frog, Cirilo McSween, Six Diamond, or anyone else.

Whatever - It Is What It Is: In any case if you don't like what you're getting from Panama-Guide you always have the option of lacing up your hiking boots and to wander around the islands of Bocas del Toro to figure it out for yourself. The sand fleas of the world like to bitch and moan, but they're doing it from their living rooms which is kind of funny, really. No matter. In the end the truth will come out, and that will be an even better story. Stay tuned.