Panama City, September 22 (Prensa Latina) The President of the Republic, Laurentino Cortizo, announced today that an alternative to the controversial contract signed by the government and Minera Panamá could be withdrawn from the National Assembly (Parliament). .
During a community work tour, the president revealed to reporters that he would rather wait for the report of the Legislature’s Trade and Economic Commission, which will be presented next Monday and will include the results of citizen surveys and a visit to the Donoso copper mine, subsidiary of the Canadian transnational company First Quantum.
“As soon as this report is received, a decision will be taken,” said the head of state, acknowledging that there is a possibility that this contract could be modified, a measure similar to that carried out with a law on transparency access to public information, interviewed by the directors of the main media.
For Cortizo, there are precedents for legal contracts being withdrawn in order to make adjustments, and on the mining pact he stated that he does not believe in the issue of a non-binding consultation as it makes little sense.
This text is being questioned by social organizations during street demonstrations and protests against a project declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court (CSJ) in 2017.
This week, the People’s United Alliance for Life filed a criminal contempt complaint with Parliament against Cortizo and the current head of the CSJ, Judge María Eugenia López, who had continued to operate the mine despite this Supreme Court ruling.
Regarding the agreement, academic and economist William Hughes told Prensa Latina that statistics on the mine’s economic benefits usually come from the foreign company, making them unreliable.
According to the professor at the University of Panama, the fact that it is a single source (the company) leads to a distortion of the discussion and raises doubts about the government’s position, adopting a position that is “without contrast “ stands for their own or independent data.
He also agreed with social and environmental organizations that are calling for the mining contract to be rejected and insisted that authorities should aim for a growth model that proposes real and non-predatory development.
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