Darién Gap

As Darien Gap ( " Darién obstacle ", also under the English name Darién Gap known ) refers to the last gap in the Panamericana, a continuous road link between North and South America.

The site is located in the Darién, a rainforest area in the southeast of Panama and northwestern Colombia. There are still missing about 110 km of road to complete the connection. These lie between Yaviza in Panama and Barranquillita or the port city of Turbo, Colombia.

Reasons for the gap

There are several reasons why the route has not yet been completed.

Once in this area, the implementation of the structure requires a relatively high costs, since the terrain is mountainous and is also crossed by numerous streams and wetlands, making the construction of many bridges would be necessary. However, this is not the only reason, as the governments of Panama and Colombia have expressed on several occasions to take the construction in attack.

Fatal are the arguments that could cause a road link in this area is considered to be harmful to the environment. On the part of conservationists is required to continue to get the area covered by rain forest area as wilderness. A road link would bring in their opinion, an economic development of the area, an increase in population density and as a result of a gradual deforestation of the rain forest with it. In addition, a reintroduction of extinct there for decades, foot and mouth disease in North and Central America is feared if uncontrolled livestock transports are possible through a road link.

The residents of the area, in large part Chocó and Kuna Indians, reject the construction of a road in large part. They argue that the street could threaten their traditional way of life and a " cultural colonization " of the area just come.

Another barrier is that some guerrilla groups ( FARC and ELN ) are active in the Colombian part of the territory. This situation has, in recent years, especially since 1997, deteriorated rather than relaxed.

Accessibility

In the area although there is no road access, but a far-reaching network of trails and paths. It is therefore possible, for example, to overcome the gap on foot, then on every river in the vicinity of settlements usually boats are available for rent. The rivers can also be overcome by swimming. Even with motorcycles and four-wheel drive SUV in the Darien Gap has been defeated for the first time in 1960. Likewise, the Darien Gap has been crossed with bikes, the bikes had to be carried over long distances. In practice, this type of crossing of the area is not recommended today because of guerrilla activity.

Tourism

Since the 1980s, the Darien Gap has become a coveted destination of adventure tourists. His " conquest " is still seen as a challenge. Since the resurgence of the guerrilla movement in 1997, tourism has however come to an almost complete halt.

Road construction activities

In 2010 Colombia announced that the road project Transversal de las Américas, which provides among other improvements, the North Colombian road network and the construction of a road through the Darién up to the border with Panama on Palos de Letras. Thus, the missing gap of the Panamericana would only be about 50 km long. The Panamanian government of Ricardo Martinelli refused, however, in response to the announcement from the connection of Yaviza up to this checkpoint through its own construction activities.