OUR HISTORY

Our history begins when Rodrigo de Bastidas discover the  Isthmus in 1501.  When spanish came to our land,  only native aborigens were living here.  Different indian groups came to the Isthmus.  Chocoes and Kunas were in Darien and San Blas.  Guaymies were located in Cocle, Los Santos, Herrera, Veraguas, Chiriqui and Bocas del Toro.
A year later, 1502, Cristobal Columbus arrived to Caribaro where he found a good quantity of gold, then he visited Veraguas, he also visited Bocas del Toro's Bay and Laguna de Chiriqui, after that he stops on Portobelo; named this way because of its beautiful land, then goes to Nombre de Dios and name it Puerto de Bastimentos.
He follows his route to Retrete place that we actually call Puerto Escribano.  Columbus tried to establish a colony on the mouth of Rio Belen where the indians almost put in danger the lifes of the whole tripulation.  Santa Maria de Belen was the first colony that is tried to establish on the panamanian Isthmus.  It was no other Spanish expedition from 1503 to 1508.  From 1492 to 1508 Spain interest was on the Antilles, after all this years, the Spanish Monarchy began to have interest to colonize the lands of the Continent and is when Alonso de Ojeda and Diego de Nicuesa request permission of King Fernando to conquer and colonize the continental lands in 1508.  The Spain Main as they called the continental lands was divided in two portions having as a limit the Atrato River.
Nueva Andalucia was the name of the portion that was in what is today Colombia and Castilla de Oro or Veragua  the name of the portion of what it is today Panama.  Nueva Andalucia was to Alonso de Ojeda and Castilla de Oro to Diego de Nicuesa.  He found the colony of Nombre de Dios. 
A new expedition comes out of Santo Domingo, this time Martin Fernandez de Enciso find Vasco Nuņez de Balboa hidden in his vessel,
Balboa was hidden to scape from Santo Domingo where he has too many debts.  When found by Enciso he was going to be punished for this with his life and Balboa made a deal with Enciso telling him that he knew the lands he was going to visit, because he is been already there with Rodrigo the Bastidas in 1501 and he could be his guide.  Enciso forgives Balboa and he becomes his guide.   They decide to go to Nicuesa's dominion and found  Santa Maria La Antigua de Darien in 1510.  Later Vasco Nuņez de Balboa would become the Gobernor of the Spain Main and gain the simpathy of the indians and spanish.  His abilities made him get rid of Nicuesa and Enciso.

Rodrigo Galvan de Bastidas