Centuries of violent confrontation ensued, and in 1870, the Colombian government was forced to grant the Guna a semi-autonomous comarca (indigenous homeland) which guaranteed their land rights. From the day Spanish Conquistadors first set foot on the Guna’s ancestral homelands in Colombia, their land was plundered by prospectors in search of gold, rubber and any other lucrative commodities they could get their hands on. International hotel chains have hungrily eyed these pristine islands for decades but on every occasion that they’ve attempted to develop the islands, the indigenous Guna people have resisted their fistfuls of dollars.Ī glance at the Guna’s history explains this reticence. This could be luxury honeymoon heaven, but it isn’t. Leaning coconut palms cast shadows on powdery white beaches while lobster fishermen in dugout canoes paddle along reefs in shallow, opalescent lagoons. The islands are a Robinson-Crusoe cliché. You’d never guess that an entire archipelago of nearly 400 idyllic cays lies strung like a coral necklace all the way to the Colombian border. The San Blas islands are the Caribbean equivalent of the Maldives but who, in all honesty, has ever heard of them? Search Google Maps and zoom in on the remote northeastern Panamanian coastline and all you’ll find is a handful of islands with lazily-drawn, straight shorelines. The result is a resort-free tropical paradise, and a travel experience that can be found nowhere else. After a long struggle, they have carved out a homeland for themselves, where they jealously guard their prerogatives. The indigenous Guna people in Panama have banned foreign land ownership.
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