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Panamanian protests against Casco Viejo development projects, 2010-2014

Summary

From 2010 to 2014, a coalition of neighborhood groups, business executives, heritage organizations, and ordinary citizens used balcony banners, marches, social-media photo campaigns, body-art “SOS UNESCO” protests, and an improvised counter-event at a contractor awards ceremony to fight Phase III of the Cinta Costera project threatening the UNESCO World Heritage status of Casco Viejo. [source: nv-database] The campaign shifted public opinion — a survey of 3,500 Panamanians found more than 70% opposed to the project — and produced a UNESCO recommendation in July 2011 for a six-month construction pause. The project was eventually modified rather than cancelled; the source assesses the campaign as partial. [source: nv-database]

Tactics used

Background

Casco Viejo, a historic district of Panama City, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. [source: nv-database] In 2010, the government of President Ricardo Martinelli proposed extending a national revitalization plan called the “Cinta Costera” (CC3) to the district. Originally presented as a tunnel plan, Martinelli and the contracted Brazilian firm Norberto Odebrecht abruptly changed the design to a modern oceanside bridge and landfill — both of which UNESCO advisers warned would compromise the historic integrity of the district. [source: nv-database]

Patrizia Pinzon, president of the Association of Friends and Neighbors of Casco Viejo (AVACA), used a March 2010 UNESCO visit as a focal point for citizen mobilization. [source: nv-database]

What happened

Panamanian protests against Casco Viejo development projects, 2010-2014

Panamanian protests against Casco Viejo development projects, 2010-2014 — Melpanama (Public domain). Source: panamanian-protests-against-casco-viejo-development-projects-2010-2014.jpg

In what residents called “Balconies That Talk,” citizens hung banners from their balconies reading messages like “THE CASCO NEEDS: Continuity – Respect – Commitment” during the UNESCO visit. [source: nv-database] Despite being on private property, Mayor Jario Moran classified the banners as “publicity” and issued subpoenas to residents, including Pinzon, on March 17.

The balcony protests extended into street protests. On April 13, 2010, President Martinelli approved a law criminalizing protests that closed off streets, threatening up to two years of imprisonment. Business executives Rubén Castillo (Panamanian Association of Business Executives) and Gaspar García de Paredes (National Business Council), along with members of the Citizens’ Alliance for Justice and the Foundation for Due Process, publicly criticized the government’s intolerance. [source: nv-database]

The campaign rapidly moved online. AVACA released celebrity public-service announcement videos on May 17, 2011. Orgullo, an organization dedicated to preserving Panamanian culture, launched a Facebook page “No a La Construcción De La Cinta Costera Alrededor De Casco Viejo” and began organizing and sharing photographs. On October 10, 2011 the “I Love Casco Viejo” photo campaign began on the page, with protesters forming hearts with their hands. Fundación Calicanto set up an anti-CC3 page on globalgiving.org to track progress and collect donations. [source: nv-database]

Counter-protests appeared but were widely seen as government-organized; Sergio Gálvez of the National Assembly was alleged to have paid $10 per head (up from $6) and given each participant a blue shirt and balloon at one March 3, 2011 event. The Ministry of Public Works announced on May 25 that the government and Odebrecht remained unsure how to implement CC3 under their $776.9 million contract. A survey of 3,500 Panamanians found over 70% opposed to risking the World Heritage status for a development that would obstruct natural oceanside views. [source: nv-database]

In June 2011, graphic artists created popular humorous posters superimposing images of obstructive modern infrastructure on famous heritage sites (a massive highway running through Stonehenge, etc.). On June 14 and 25, 2011, “Save our Heritage!” protests occurred beachside, with Pinzon and protesters waving white flags and lying on the ground to form “SOS UNESCO” with their bodies. On June 24, 2011 — in pouring rain — Fundación Calicanto organized a peaceful march with environmentalists that closed Avenida Balboa for two hours and drew mainstream media coverage and over 500 participants. [source: nv-database]

On July 7, 2011, UNESCO advised the government to discontinue construction for six months to consider the conservation of Casco Viejo. Government officials publicly insisted “everything would work out fine” while secretly planning to start the project. On November 21, 2011, activists organized an improvised information center inside a hotel hosting an event honoring Odebrecht for excellence in “Sustainable Development,” distributing anti-CC3 leaflets and disrupting the event. [source: nv-database]

The campaign continued into 2014 with successive urban-planning alternatives, modifications to the original design, and eventual reduction of the original proposal’s scope. [source: nv-database]

Key people & organizations

  • Patrizia Pinzon — President of AVACA, the campaign’s most visible leader [source: nv-database]
  • President Ricardo Martinelli — whose CC3 plan was the target [source: nv-database]
  • Norberto Odebrecht — the Brazilian contractor commissioned for the original project [source: nv-database]
  • AVACA (Association of Friends and Neighbors of Casco Viejo) — the neighborhood anchor [source: nv-database]
  • Orgullo — the cultural-heritage organization that ran the social-media campaign [source: nv-database]
  • Fundación Calicanto — an Orgullo subgroup that organized the June 24, 2011 march [source: nv-database]
  • Rubén Castillo (APAE), Gaspar García de Paredes (National Business Council) — business-association leaders who publicly objected to the anti-protest law [source: nv-database]
  • UNESCO — provided repeated public recommendations against the project [source: nv-database]
  • Mayor Jario Moran — issued the subpoena against balcony banners [source: nv-database]

Outcome

Verdict: partial.

The source scores the campaign as partial. The project was modified rather than cancelled; UNESCO issued a six-month pause recommendation on July 7, 2011, and the eventual design was substantially reduced from the original landfill-plus-bridge proposal. [source: nv-database] The campaign is credited with shifting the public conversation — 70%+ opposition in a national survey — and with converting what had been an elite preservation concern into a popular movement.

Lessons

  • A UNESCO or other international-credential threat can amplify a local preservation fight into a global credibility problem for the contractor and the government [source: nv-database]
  • Multiple, repeatable, low-risk tactics — balcony banners, body art, marches, photos, memes — can keep a campaign visible over years without exhausting participants [source: nv-database]
  • Counter-protests staged by governments can be turned into a liability if the per-head payment is exposed; transparency about counter-mobilization funding is itself a tactic [source: nv-database]

Sources

Disclaimer: Included as a teaching example of campaign craft, not as endorsement.

Sources & verification

  • nv-database — grounding: primary — license: link-only / all-rights-reserved (ND-style; content paraphrased, not quoted)
  • Verified: 2026-07-04 by human

Last verified: 2026-07-09