Lawyer Roberto Ruiz’s recent lawsuit also points to tax fraud by the subsidiary of Canadian transnational First Quantum, which operates in the Donoso district of Colón province, despite the Supreme Court ruling that the tax was unconstitutional. Contract signed between the company and the state since December 21, 2017.
At the same time, she questions the fact that the company continues to exploit Central America’s largest open-pit copper mine without paying the associated taxes.
On December 19, 2022, the government directed Minera Panama to develop a plan to place the facility on care and maintenance, which amounts to the closure of commercial operations.
On the subject, Minister of Trade and Industry Federico Alfaro admitted to foreign correspondents that the government is examining all available options in the event that ongoing negotiations to continue operations fail, including concession to another company without to give more details.
He also pointed out that the contract to be signed still has significant gaps in economic and legal terms, in particular he fears that in the event of a fall in the price of copper, the mining company will not honor the license fees of $ 375 million per year.
According to official statistics, as of 2019, Minera Panamá produces around 300,000 tons of copper concentrates per year, accounting for 75 percent of the isthmus’ exports and almost 4.0 percent of its gross domestic product.
For their part, workers at Minera Panama have been demanding answers on their employment situation amid controversy with the executive branch.
The leader of that union, Francisco Díaz, claimed that after meeting with Labor Secretary Doris Zapata, they had not found answers to their demands about who would pay the salaries of nearly 6,000 workers in the event of a closure of the processing plant’s operations.
During the week ending on the Isthmus, they also commemorated Martyrs’ Day in memory of the student and popular movement that in 1964 demanded the presence of the national flag in US-occupied territory known as the Canal Zone.
One of the participants in these January 9 events, Adolfo Ahumada, claimed that the patriotic feat enabled the signing of the Torrijos-Carter Accords 13 years later in 1977, which came about with the return of the interoceanic highway in 1999.
While leaders of social and labor organizations, who arrived with their protest marches at the foot of the monuments to the martyrs of this epic, denied the United States’ continued interference in the Isthmus nation.
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