Panama

Venezuela Expels Diplomats From Seven Countries After Blatant Interference

July 31, 2024 Orinoco Tribune. Resist! Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Diplomacy, Dominican Republic, Elections, Javier Milei, Lima Group, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Yvan Gil

The Venezuelan Minister for Foreign Affairs Yván Gil, through a statement, announced that the Venezuelan government decided to withdraw all diplomatic personnel from its embassies in Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay. The announcement followed the unprecedented interventionist aggression and interference in Venezuelan internal affairs carried out by these seven countries. In addition, the minister requested that the governments of these countries immediately withdraw their representatives from Venezuelan territory. In diplomatic jargon, this essentially constitutes a complete diplomatic rupture.

Panamanian Workers Are Being Punished For Anti-Mining Protests

June 23, 2024 Pablo Meriguet, People's Dispatch. Resist! Mining, National Union of Workers of Construction and Similar Industries (SUNTRACS), Panama, Retaliation, Saúl Mendez, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

Panamanian business groups and large transnational capital are trying to take revenge on the National Union of Workers of Construction and Similar Industries (SUNTRACS), says Saúl Méndez, general secretary of the union. For several months, the state-owned company Caja de Ahorros has frozen 18 bank accounts of the union, one of the largest in the country, which represents more than 25,000 people. According to government sources, the closure of the bank accounts is due to alleged links of SUNTRACS with terrorist activities. However, according to Méndez, the freezing of their accounts is an act of retaliation by national and international economic groups that have economic interests in Panama...

Panama Supreme Court Declares Mining Contract Illegal

November 29, 2023 Ariadne Eljuri, Orinoco Tribune. Resist! Environment, Mass Action, Mining, Panama, Victory

The Supreme Court of Panama declared the mining contract which renewed a Canadian mining company’s exploitation concession of the largest open pit copper mine in Central America as unconstitutional. The renewal of this contract triggered a protest movement that has spread for more than a month throughout the country. On Tuesday, November 28, the president of the Supreme Court of Panama, María Eugenia López, stated that the ruling was approved unanimously. The case was opened in response to two appeals presented against Law 406, approved on October 20 by the unicameral Parliament and President Laurentino Cortizo and that contains the contract.

People Of Panama Are In The Streets: ‘Our Homeland Is Not For Sale’

November 1, 2023 Alejandra Garcia, Resumen English. Resist! Mass Action, Mining, Panama, Privatization

Panama has woken up once again. For several days now, thousands of its citizens have taken to the streets against a nefarious mining contract that would not only put vast areas of the country in the hands of private companies, with headquarters in the North, but would also cause irreparable environmental damage. The unpopular signing of the mining contract with Minera Panama, a subsidiary of First Quantum Minerals, has lit a popular uprising in the country and forcing government of the Democratic Revolutionary to face a new social crisis. Just over a year ago, the Panamanian people were the protagonists of massive protests against President Laurentino Cortizo over the high cost of fuel and food.

Panama Explodes With Protests Against Canadian Copper Mine

October 30, 2023 Michael Fox, The Real News. Resistance Report Copper Mine, Democracy, Mass Action, Panama

Panama is on fire. Massive protests are rippling across the country. Road blocks. Unions on strike. School classes cancelled. Workers, teachers and indigenous groups are in the streets. They’re protesting the government’s approval of a renegotiated contract with a Canadian mining firm for the operation of Central America’s largest open-pit copper mine. They say it’s a threat to the environment and an attack on Panama’s sovereignty. Political analysts say the issue is having such an impact, because of the country’s long history of foreign intervention in the country, and particularly the US control over the Panama Canal, which lasted throughout the 20th Century.

Protests Against Mining Concession Given To Company Intensify In Panama

September 30, 2023 People's Dispatch. Resist! Canada, Environment, Indigenous Rights, Mining, Panama

Since early August, Panamanian trade unions, Indigenous groups, and people’s movements have been taking to the streets in different parts of the country in rejection of a concession contract signed in March between the government of President Laurentino Cortizo and Minera Panamá S.A., a subsidiary of the Canadian multinational mining company First Quantum Minerals Limited. The contract allows the mining company to continue operations at one of Central America’s largest open-pit copper mines, Cobre Panamá, for 20 years, with the possibility of extending the period for another 20 years. It also authorizes the company to build a power plant, a process plant, and an international port—providing services that would be charged, but from which the state would not benefit.

Panamanian Trade Unions Reach Agreement With Government

July 27, 2022 People's Dispatch. Resist! Inflation, Mass Action, Panama, Victory

After three weeks of national strike and nationwide demonstrations and roadblocks in protest against the cost of living crisis in Panama, the right-wing government of President Laurentino Cortizo was forced to engage in negotiations with the organizations behind the protests in Penonomé on July 21. On July 24, the fourth day of negotiations, representatives from various popular movements and social organizations, which have been mobilizing across the country since July 1, reached the first agreement with the government. The leaders of the People United for Life Alliance from the capital Panama City, the National Alliance for the Rights of the Organized People (ANADEPO) from Veraguas, and the Indigenous organizations from the Ngäbe Buglé region, the three organizers of the ongoing national strike, succeeded in convincing the national government to reduce the cost of essential commodities by 30%.

Panama: Government And Protesters Resume Dialogue With Little Progress

July 24, 2022 Orinoco Tribune. Resist! Inflation, Mass Action, Neoliberalism, Panama

Dialogue between government and protesters in Panama continued for the second day on July 22, discussing the cost of the basic food basket, one of the main causes of the protests that have rocked the country over the past three weeks. The protest leaders proposed a reduction of 30% of prices of the items of the basic food basket, while the government proposed a 15% cut, as well as including 17 more products in the price control scheme. This would take the list to a total of 35 products. There was also a discussion for creating a committee on price control to follow up on the issue. Government representatives said that, in any case, the responsibility to ensure these issues would fall on the authority for consumer protection and defense of competition (ACODECO). Meanwhile, posts and videos circulating on social media show empty shelves in supermarkets and grocery stores.

Negotiations Underway In Panama As National Mobilizations Continue

July 20, 2022 People's Dispatch. Resist! Economic crisis, Inflation, Mass Action, Panama

After more than two weeks of mobilizations and strikes and several attempts by the national government to fragment the movement, the people of Panama continue their struggle to demand immediate solutions to the cost of living crisis. On July 19, the People United for Life Alliance announced that it would partake in dialogues mediated by the Catholic Church. The organizations part of the Alliance which drafted the list of 32 demands for the national government and organized the series of national mobilizations that began on July 1, have in the meanwhile continued their nationwide protests. On July 18 and 19, thousands mobilized in cities and towns across Panama, maintaining road blockades and organizing pickets outside public institutions.

Two Weeks Of National Strike In Panama

July 17, 2022 People's Dispatch. Resistance Report Panama, Protests, Worker Rights and Jobs

The protests began on July 1 after the government showed no interest in addressing the issue or meeting with activists for negotiations to solve the crisis. The last two weeks were marked by massive mobilizations against the high cost of living and an escalating economic crisis in Panama. Movements with the People United for Life Alliance have presented a list of 32 demands to the government to address the crisis but the government has refused to take serious action. The protests have seen broad participation from people across Panamanian society such as workers, fisherfolk, Indigenous communities, students, educators, and civilians.

After Ecuadorians, Panamanians Say No More Pillaging

July 11, 2022 Gustavo A. Maranges, Resumen English. Resist! Inflation, Mass Action, Neoliberalism, Panama

The situation in Panama is becoming increasingly tense as more people join in what has become a permanent strike expressed in street protests. During the last few weeks, there have been several strikes in the transportation sector, especially in agricultural transportation, but the government has not offered any solutions to the demands so far. The lack of response has generated growing discontent, and since last Thursday, teachers have joined the transport workers declaring a permanent strike, paralyzing a large part of the country’s economic activity.

Wealthy Americans Targeted By US In Panama Tax-Fraud Probe

July 30, 2021 David Voreacos And Neil Weinberg, Boston Globe. Educate! Criminal Justice and Prisons, Finance and the Economy, IRS, Panama

The Internal Revenue Service can now get information about electronic fund transfers and courier deliveries between the firm, Panama Offshore Legal Services, and its US clients, the Justice Department said in a statement Thursday. The IRS seeks to identify clients who used the law firm to “create or control foreign assets and entities” to evade taxes, the department said.

Prolonged Protests In Panama Over Proposed Constitutional Reforms

October 31, 2019 Popular Resistance. Resist! Constitution, Corruption, Education, Panama

Protests in Panama started on October 22 when 1,000 students, teachers and administrators from the University of Panama marched to the National Assembly to protest proposed changes to the Constitution that would undermine higher education. When the marchers arrived at the National Assembly, they were prevented from entering and some climbed over the fence to get in. Since then, protests have continued every day and more groups have joined them. Telesur reports that trade unions, movements, and social organizations have also joined. Telesur explains why the demonstrations are growing: "...after the first debates of the reform on October 15, a group of assembly members included amendments that would give them the power to alter the general state budget, appoint a superior prosecutor to investigate attorneys, censor ministers and adjust the salaries

Panama: Students Defy Blockade, Deliver Message Directly To The National Assembly

October 25, 2019 Staff, Diaadia.com.pa Resist! March, Panama, Protests, Students

More than a thousand students, teachers and administrators of the first house of studies of the University of Panama, made a march on Tuesday October 22 from the Transistmica to the facilities of the National Assembly. The measure was given as a rejection of the proposals that would modify the articles of the Political Constitution of the Republic, in which, according to the university authorities themselves, they revealed that they would affect the operation of the higher education center.

Panama Launches Commission To Investigate US Atrocities

August 3, 2016 Staff, www.telesurtv.net Educate! Investigation, Latin America, Panama, US military

By Staff of Tele Sur - The new initiative will produce the first "truth report" on the U.S. invasion of Panama and could pave the way for reparations for victims. Panama launched a new special commission Wednesday morning aimed at uncovering the historical truth behind the 1989 U.S. invasion of the Central American country to overthrow the dictator that the CIA had propped up for years.

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