Adaptación y dinamismo interno en las formas de autogobierno indígena: La comarca de Gunayala (Panamá) como ejemplo

Abstract

This article describes the historical, political and ontological specificity of one of the most ancient de jure indigenous autonomies on the planet: the comarca of Gunayala (formerly San Blas) in Panama. Based on data obtained from ethnographic research carried out over a long period of time (2000-2019), the paper addresses eight main issues that frame negotiations on Guna autonomy: territorial defense, tourism, major investment projects, the media, intercultural bilingual education, intellectual property of traditional knowledge and cultural expressions, public security and the development of agriculture. The centrality of these issues in the political negotiation processes with the Panamanian state and transnational actors should not, however, be understood as an adaptation to the world of the Wagas (non-indigenous). As shown in the last part of the article, in the construction and conception of Guna autonomy there are elements of different ontological orders that confer a great internal dynamism to the comarca and which should not be ignored.

Keywords

• self-governance
• gunayala
• internal dynamism
• adaptation
• negotiation