Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
cooperative he helped found; it includes a couple of supermarkets, several grocery stores, a
restaurant, bus and taxi services, and the jewel in the crown, the local organic coffee mill,
Café El Tute
( 954 0801). Tours (in Spanish) of the processing plant, where you can buy
some of the delicious product, and to a nearby organic coffee farm, can be organized through
the tourism cooperative (
954 0737), which has a smart
rancho
near the centre of town.
HÉCTOR GALLEGO AND THE SANTA FÉ COOPERATIVE
In the middle of the night of June 9, 1971,
Padre Héctor Gallego
, the 33-year-old priest of
Santa Fé, was abducted by two uniformed men of Omar Torrijos's National Guard and was
never seen again. In 2002, the Truth Commission set up by President Moscoso to examine
crimes committed during Panama's two dictatorships found what they believed to be the
tortured remains of the revered priest. It is generally presumed that Manuel Noriega, then
head of the secret service, gave the orders, though it seems likely that Torrijos, even if un-
aware of events at the time, was complicit in the cover-up.
Gallego had arrived in Santa Fé from Colombia in 1967 as the town's first parish priest,
and was appalled at the exploitation of the local farmers by the wealthy merchant elite,
whose clout within the town and access to outside markets allowed them to buy the farm-
ers' goods for a pittance and sell them on for a fat profit. The energetic priest soon set about
educating and organizing the peasant population into becoming self-reliant, helping them
to establish a cooperative so their products could be sold directly to the market, bypassing
the merchants. It is not known exactly what threat Gallego was perceived to pose to the
authorities, but a campaign of intimidation began, starting with insults and threats, escalat-
ing into arson and culminating in the priest's final “disappearance”. “If I disappear,” Gal-
lego announced before his death, “don't look for me. Continue the struggle.” His prophetic
words now figure on the monument to him in the village.
Around Santa Fé
The area's natural beauty makes it perfect for
hiking
,
birdwatching
and
bathing
in clear
streams and rivers - provided the weather holds - though the mountainous topography means
there'll be steep inclines wherever you wander. A good start is to head down to the river, be-
fore the entrance to the village, below the
Hotel de Santa Fé
, or follow the road up towards
Alto de Piedra
If you intend to tackle the area's loftiest peaks, Cerro Tute (930m) and Cerro Mariposa
(1200m), cloaked in montane forest, or want to penetrate the wilderness areas of the park,
then hiring a
guide
is a must. More accessible hiking destinations include the impressive
Salto Alto de Piedra and Salto El Bermejo, as well as the 30m cascade of El Salto, slightly
further afield. For the hardcore, it's possible to organize a multi-day hike over the cordillera
to the Caribbean coast.
