Coiba penal colony

OVERVIEW

The largest island on the Pacific coast of Central America, 50 km offshore in Veraguas, which held Panama's penal colony from 1919 to 2004: a central camp and outlying work camps, no walls but sharks, currents and jungle. Under the military governments of 1968–1989 it held political prisoners; conditions and deaths were documented by La Prensa and human-rights reporting. It is now the core of Coiba National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2005.

HISTORY

Prisoners cleared and farmed the island; the camps were abandoned when the last inmates left in 2004 and are being reclaimed by forest. The island's isolation preserved its reefs and wildlife.

REPORTED ACTIVITY

Panamanian outlets carry the accounts of rangers and visitors: voices and footsteps in the ruined cell blocks, figures seen in the camps at dusk, and the general reputation of a place where many died badly. The reports are informal; the deaths, the torture and the disappearances under the dictatorship are on the record.

VISITING

Access by licensed boat from Santa Catalina with a park permit; the prison ruins can be visited with rangers. Diving is the main draw.