Vanessa Buschschluter writes for BBC News and  La Union, Panama about the prospect of a peace deal between the Colombian government and left-wing rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).

“Peace is not a bad thing, but it’s unlikely to solve our problems,” says Director of Panama’s Border Police, Frank Abrego (pictured in sunglasses above).

Most of Panama’s security problems originate south of its border, in Colombia.

Colombia is one of the world’s top three producers of coca, the raw ingredient of cocaine, and huge amounts of it are smuggled from Colombia to the United States.

Panama, Colombia’s northern neighbour, is often the first stop for those smuggling the drug by land or speedboat.

Rebel stronghold

Colombia is also the scene of the continent’s longest-running armed conflict.

For more than 50 years, Farc rebels have been fighting the Colombian government.

The jungle area between Colombia and Panama was for years a rebel stronghold.

From a helicopter, Gen Abrego points out small hamlets in Darien province, on the Panamanian side of the border.

“This is where the Farc would hold its football tournament,” he says pointing to a clearing in the jungle.

Read the entire article here.