Colon, Panama’s Most Dangerous City
(costaricapages.com)The city of Colon, on Panama’s Caribbean coast has a long-standing reputation as a dangerous place. Tourists do visit the area for the surrounding beaches and Duty Free Zone, as well as the cruise ports, but most don’t stay long due to its reputation.
Panama City has it’s fair share of violence as well. In 2008 the capital registered 70% of the nation’s murders. However, when you take in to account the population of Colon, that city is the most violent in all of Panama. Panama’s Minister of Government and Justice announced that in Colon there were 33 murders per 100-thousand residents in 2008. In Panama City there were 27 murders per 100-thousand.
In 2008 there were a total of 652 murders throughout the Republic of Panama. Much of the violence that takes place in Colon and elsewhere in Panama is the result of gang activity. Unfortunately it’s not just the gang members killing each other. Near the end of 2008, there were a handful of incidents where small children were killed as a result of stray gang bullets.
If Panama wants to continue as a popular tourist destination, the government and citizens need to take action to clean up the streets not only of Colon, but of all of Panama. Murder rates have been growing under the Martin Torrijos administration so one can only hope the new president who takes office this year will have a viable plan to curb the violence on Panama’s streets.
