Despite opposition, the highway plan is moving into high gear. This preliminary funding is significant because the IDB rarely funds studies for projects that it is not interested in financing. IDB representatives, however, insist that they will not finance such a controversial project. The study is not an environmental impact statement but rather a general environmental diagnosis of the region, explained an IDB official close to the project. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said that the IDB would provide no financing for the construction or renovation of roads in the Darien Gap.
Regulations governing both parks allow for the highway to be completed.
Until recently, the Palo de Letras route was favored because it is the shortest and least costly option. In a June Good Neighbor Commission meeting, however, Panama President Ernesto Perez Balladares endorsed the Atlantic Coast route, arguing that it would mitigate environmental damage from the road. Another concern is that the road will accelerate drug trafficking into the region. This ecological concern is international. Representing more than 800 organizations worldwide, the Switzerland-based International Union for the Conservation of Nature passed a resolution opposing highway completion in January 1994.