In statements to Prensa Latina from another roadblock in the capital, the general secretary of the teachers’ association, Fernando Ábrego, rejected “the brutal way in which the executive is trying to silence the voices of the people of Panama East, who… ““is against a pact that harms sovereignty.”
That day also saw the filing of a formal complaint with the Supreme Court for a crime against bodily integrity, concerning the loss of an eye of photographer Aubrey Baxter, a member of the environmental collective Ya es Ya, who was hit by a bullet fired by agents of the anti-riot units when he took part in the demonstrations near Parliament.
The spokesman for the Alianza Pueblo Unidos por la Vida also announced that teachers will declare a 48-hour nationwide strike, an action that will be carried out in the meetings that take place in the concentration areas along the isthmus.
Unlike the social upheaval against the high cost of living that shook the country in July 2022 and forced the government to set up a unified dialogue table, on this occasion there is a demand to cancel the pact with the subsidiary transnational First Quantum, “which promotes the plunder of our natural resources made possible.”
Ábrego rejected “the cowardly and almost secret manner” with which the President of the Republic, Laurentino Cortizo, signed this text just a few minutes after its adoption by the National Assembly in the third and final debate.
This treaty does not meet the needs and interests of ordinary citizens of Panama, he explained, adding that it causes damage to our nature.
He said the open-pit mining of metals in Donoso (Colón) has broken the Mesoamerican biological corridor, of which Panama, due to its geographical location, is a key part for the passage of species such as the north-south and south-north tapir, jaguar or Harpy, he remembered.
For his part, the general secretary of the National Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (Conusi), Marco Andrade, explained at another rally that there would also be marches to the unicameral parliament and street demonstrations until the mining contract was canceled. “What “It’s poisoning our waters and our land,” he noted.
Social protests forced the Ministry of Education and the University of Panama to suspend classes throughout the national territory this Monday and Tuesday, demanding to ensure tolerance, respect and the right to freedom of expression and to promote a culture of peace.
Many of the participants in the demonstrations since this morning were dressed in black, waving the national badge, blowing drums and cheering with slogans such as “No to mining, yes to life,” this news agency confirmed.
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