Rogelio Montezuma

Home Community: Hato Chamí, Jädaberi, Distrito Nole Duima, Comarca Ngäbe-Bugle

Rogelio Montezuma lives in the community of Hato Chamí where he works as an accountant for the Hato Chamí Education Center (C.E.B.G. Hato Chamí) which includes both primary and secondary schools for the area and where many of FFC’s scholarship recipients attend. He is also currently working in Buäbti (Llano Tugrí), the capital of the Comarca Ngäbe-Buglé), supporting the creation of the first Autonomous University of Indigenous Peoples in Panamá (Universidad Autónoma de los Pueblos Indígenas | UAPI). Rogelio brings with him a wealth of organizing experience as the former President of the Coordinator for the Defense of Natural Resources and the Rights of the Ngäbe-Buglé and Campesino People (Coordinadora por la Defensa de los Recursos Naturales y Derechos del Pueblo Ngäbe Buglé y Campesino). In this role, Rogelio was instrumental in organizing the Ngäbe-Buglé to protest exploitation by mining companies and the Panamanian government’s land concessions to hydroelectric dam projects and to advocate for the government’s recognition of the indigenous Comarca’s semi-autonomous status and right to control their own land. Rogelio represented the Comarca Ngäbe-Buglé in their negotiations with the Panamanian government at the United Nations to reach an agreement that would end the government’s improper use of indigenous lands and the resulting protests that caused the closure of the Pan-American highway.

Rogelio has volunteered with Few for Change since 2019, in collaboration with Agripina Sandoya, representing FFC in Hato Chamí and neighboring communities, promoting the FFC scholarship, distributing scholarship applications, and collecting important student documents.