The one with Serial Killers and Riots

No, this title is not just a ploy to get more people to read my blog. It is a title that I never thought I would be writing for a blog, especially as a “Peace” Corps volunteer. Needless to point out, there is nothing peaceful about serial killers nor riots.

Fortunately, I was not directly affected by either. However, the occurrence of both has drastically intervened with my life as well as the lives of literally very single person around me.

Let’s begin with the riots:

Panamas new president, Martinelli, and the national government passed legislation that made public demonstrations and paying union dues illegal. basically prohibiting union operation.

So the unions took to the streets. The largest and most heated union being the Chiquita banana farm workers that are located in my province of Bocas del Toro. Sadly the workers didn’t opt for a peaceful picket line, instead they aggressively rioted for 8 days. This was happening the week that I was back home in Tahoe.

When I arrived back to Panama and started my travel back to site, the destruction and aftermath of the riots became more and more evident the closer my bus got to Bocas. Huge trees had been cut down blocking the only road, burnt busses and tires lined the streets and my fellow bus goers were all sharing stories regarding which family member had what happen to the during the riot.

And the stories have not stopped since. Every person in my community has at least one family member working for Chiquita banana, and they were all very excited to fill me in on what I had missed while I was gone!!!.

The news says that there were two fatalities. The Indians tell me it was more closer to 25 people. They say that hundreds of people lost their eyesight and use of extremities due to police repercussions.

After 8 days, the union workers decided to give the government 90 days to change the law, change it completely, not revise it. If this does not happen they will continue rioting until it does. They are totally fired up about this! It is great to see the indigenous people sticking up for themselves and their rights, because in my opinion this law is totally outlandish. It is just to bad that they have to go to such extreme and violent measures to get the point across.

So, just about when the riot stories started to become habitual, and mundane… Mr. Wild Bill came along and changed the conversation topic overnight.

Yep, “Wild Bill” is the name of our neighborhood serial killer. I am not sure exactly what defines a serial killer, but that is what everyone else is calling him… so that means I can too =)Americas most wanted in 2007, William Dathan Holbert and girlfriend Laura Michelle Reese have been hiding out down here in Bocas for the past 3 years. They did manage to go incognito for awhile, until people, specifically from the ex-pat/gringo community, started to go missing. The only thing these missing people had in common was that “Wild Bill” had recently purchased their property. The Panamanian police believed Bill when he told them that he had paid each of the property owners in cash and then they just left. Eventually, the families of these missing people started to put some real pressure on the police do actually do something. So, they searched Wild Bill´s property and ´whala´, they found two of the bodies. Wild Bill´s property is located about a 30 min walk over the hill from where I live… the kids have to walk further than that to go to school.

After a few days on the run. Wild Bill and his accomplice girlfriend were caught entering Nicaragua by boat.

This story is extremely complicated and developing daily. Last I heard, there is a total of 7 missing people, 2 of them are Ngobe workers. They are still trying to find the other 5 bodies. Wild Bill and his girlfriend will do at least a 30 year jail time down here in panama and then the US will most likely want them for all the things they had done to earn the America most wanted title. If you want to read hours upon hours of all the dirt you can follow this site http://www.panama-guide.com/ Or you can just wait for the non-fiction murder mystery book to come out that I am sure someone is working on right now. This tragic story really does have all the elements of a best seller, it is even set in a beautiful, exotic, and now mysterious Caribbean destination. A place where you truly don’t know who to trust, and have to have to question their reason for being here, and whether they may be running from something back in the states. So now, whether I am out in the farm harvesting with my women’s artisan group, or sipping a glass of wine with my ex-pat neighbors ¨Wild Bill¨ is sure to come up. This occurrence has got the indigenous community, the gringo community and everyone in between all stirred up.

My Ngobes tell me, ¨He is your people Meti! We never had anything like this happen before. This only happens with gringos¨

First of all I would not call Wild Bill ¨my people¨ but, in an attempt to defend the rest of Americans from getting a bad reputation I joke a little with my community. I remind them of the sheer size of the United states by having them picture more than 50 ´Panamas´ lied side by side. And then I tell them that with all those people we were likely to have one ¨Bad Apple.¨ And thank goodness Panama was here to catch him, and now we are all safe =) they laugh and give me their typical ¨ieeeee Meti¨ and then tell me that I am not allowed to walk around in the jungle alone anymore.

So, there you have it, riots and serial killers. I told you I wasn´t lying.

Of all the countries that Peace Corps could have sent me to Panama truly is among the safest. And in all seriousness, even with all this happening, I never once felt unsafe or threatened in anyway. If there are any Peace Corps volunteer prospects or future volunteers reading, please don’t let this blog give you a false impression of this country, and the safety of volunteering here. Just like I told my community, the one bad guy that was here is now behind bars… and at least the Panamanians have the courtesy to tell us when they plan on rioting again. I think that would be a good time for me to go on vacation.

Until next time! Stay safe!
Miche