Above photo: Detained leaders and family were released with the precautionary measure of periodic signing. SUNTRACS.
The arrests are part of the Mulino government’s crackdown on prolonged protests against his administration by organized labor.
The arrests are part of the Mulino government’s crackdown on prolonged protests against his administration by organized labor.
The National Union of Construction and Related Industry Workers (SUNTRACS), Panama’s largest and most militant trade union, has denounced the right-wing government of José Raúl Mulino for ordering the arrest of several political leaders of its organization and their relatives.
The leaders and family members were released on October 29. Following sustained pressure from SUNTRACS and international trade unions, the court determined there was no reason to keep them detained. The union has vowed to continue resisting the Mulino government’s repression.
In a public statement, SUNTRACS said: “We denounce before the country that heavily armed and masked national police units … stormed … the homes of several members of our union’s board of directors and family members of some of our comrades.”
Furthermore, the statement affirms: “Faced with this situation, which is only comparable to dictatorial and repressive regimes, we call on our comrades at SUNTRACS, the working class, and the Panamanian people to unite and show solidarity in order to confront these attacks against popular demands and causes until justice finally prevails in our country. Without struggle, there is no victory!”
The arrests of four members took place on October 27. Additionally, on the same day, nearly 18 raids were conducted against different members of SUNTRACS. In response, the union, which led a weeks-long protest against the Mulino government, denounced the actions as “political persecution”.
The demonstrations against the executive branch have been held to reject the neoliberal reform of the pension system and the recent security agreements between Panama and Washington, which have been denounced as harmful to the national security interests of the Caribbean country.
SUNTRACS reported that those arrested were María Isabel Cordero, Abdiel Bethancourt, José Palacio, and Kathia Caballero, who were “being held without justification in the early hours of Monday, October 27, as a result of Mulino’s political persecution.”
Bethancourt and Palacio are leading members of the union. Cordero and Caballero are the wife and daughter of Jaime Caballero, an important union leader who was detained by the Mulino government in May of this year. SUNTRACS argues that these two latest arrests are part of a new form of intimidation against the relatives of those who have opposed the Mulino government.
Furthermore, SUNTRACS stated that the detentions are part of an increase in repression in Panama: “Panama is living under a dictatorship.”
In response, the union demanded a response from the government and the immediate release of those detained. They called on human rights groups and the international community to demand an end to the repression and the release of those detained.
The Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) answered the call, publicly stating that these events are part of a series of violations of International Labor Organization conventions on freedom of association.
“SUNTRACS is being attacked for defending the rights of workers and the Panamanian people,” said the ICM. Other Panamanian and international trade union organizations also joined this demand, and the trade unionists and family members were subsequently released.
