A spokesman for the People United for Life coalition, teacher Fernando Ábrego, told the press that in the towns of El Chepo and Pacora, anti-riot squads are pursuing participants at blockade points on the Panamericana.
Also secretary-general of the Teachers’ Union of Panama, recalled that the attacks on people in the streets demanding social justice, like the day before in Veraguas – with a record of injuries and arrests – could hamper negotiations to end the protests and restore the calm in the country.
Such actions only attack the only dialogue table with the government that is being prepared in the city of Penonomé (Coclé province) with the Catholic Church as mediator, he added.
It is reprehensible, he said, that the President of the Republic, Laurentino Cortizo, made a commitment to the Archbishop of Panama, José Domingo Ulloa, to withdraw these forces, avoid violence and continue the repression of the population.
“Lies to organizations and lies to the church,” he observed.
Ábrego pointed out that the second day of meetings, preparing for these talks with the executive, emphasize the possibilities of accepting the reduction in fuel prices, but not on the basis of the taxes of the Panamanians themselves, while the fuel oligopolies.
Providing basic family needs, food and medicine, providing 6.0 percent of gross domestic product for the education system, and fighting corruption are other priority issues on the agenda, he said.
During the day, an Executive Branch commission led by Government Minister Janaina Tewaney and Deputy Minister for Indigenous Affairs Ausencio Palacio consulted with traditional authorities to hear their demands, ending the indigenous-initiated strike in several of theirs territories.
For its part, the Panamanian Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture asked the Catholic Church to attend the table and also invited the Head of State to the meeting.
As the national media aired statements by government spokesman Juan Antonio Ducruet, assuring that the president was closely following the situation in the country and whether he would attend the August 7 inauguration of Gustavo Petro in Colombia, he asserted , don’t think about that now.
“We are all focused on moving the country forward and returning to social peace,” the spokesman told the radiography show, which is broadcast by RCP Radio and Eco TV.
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