Panama declaring a state of urgency in its banana region for protests against pension reform

Members of the armed forces on a road — Photo foot, Members of the Armed Forces guarded an area during the protests in Changuinola, on June 20.

- Author, Redacción*
- Author's title, BBC News World
41 minutes

The Government of Panama declared the state of urgency in its main banana region, after looting was recorded in commercial establishments and acts of vandalism against buildings and vehicles.

The riots occurred in the province of Bocas del Toro, in the northwest of the country, where a series of protests have been carried out for weeks against a pension reform that had been approved by Congress in March.

The Government said that, for the next five days, several constitutional guarantees will be suspended in that border province with Costa Rica.

The measure restricts freedom of movement and allows the police to make arrests without a court order.

The riots in the region began a month ago, when the local Bananeros workers union joined a national protest, against the proposal to cut pensions, and declared a strike.

“Given the rupture of order and acts of systematic violence, the State will assert its constitutional mandate to guarantee peace, order and respect for the fundamental rights of most Panamanians,” said the Minister of the Presidency, Juan Carlos Orillac.

“We take this measure to prevent radical and criminal groups from gathering to organize acts of violence, vandalism.”

Strike called

Protests in the Central American country were unleashed in March when Congress approved a package of reforms promoted by the Executive to change social security laws, including pension and retirement.

The Central American country has accumulated a deficit of more than US $ 650 million in workers' pensions.

The changes generated a great parliamentary debate, protests of workers' guilds and called indefinite strike by the Teacher Union.

A person with a cell phone takes the photo of an affected store — Photo foot, One of the stores in the city of Changuinola affected by the riots.

To the call other sectors were added, such as construction, the most numerous in the country.

In Bocas del Toro, banana workers joined to demonstrate against social security reforms.

The confrontation intensified last month after the company Chiquita Brands fired thousands of employees who had declared on strike.

The company said that, after 24 days of unemployment, it suffered losses of US $ 75 million and that there was “irreversible damage to production.”

Protesters have been blocking roads in the province, often facing the police.

The airport and a stadium

On May 27, the Panama Government had declared the state of urgency in the province.

At that time, Orillac had said that the state of emergency would allow the government to expedite bureaucratic processes to quickly address the economic crisis in the province, which depends economically on tourism and banana production.

And he added that “the declaration of state of emergency does not imply the suspension of fundamental guarantees or constitutional rights of any citizen.”

However, this Friday the Government decided to declare the State of Urncia again and, this time, to suspend constitutional guarantees in that region.

A vandalized vehicle — Photo foot, One of the vehicles that were vandalized at the Changuinola airport.

On Friday, the Deputy Minister of Public Security, Luis Felipe Icaza, indicated that Bocas del Toro “will be rescued from vandalism and crime.”

He pointed out that “80 people linked to actions of roads and criminal acts have been arrested.

According to the official, in the Changuinola city, damages were recorded in “a large amount of infrastructure, such as the Changuinola airport”, public and police offices, as well as local businesses, a gas station and the facilities of the Chiquita Panama company.

“I do not understand, who in their healthy judgment destroys the stadium of his own team, a modern and new stadium that is used for baseball, I do not understand how they destroyed it in the way they did,” Icaza said in reference to the Calvin Byron stadium in that province.

The Minister of Security, Frank Abrego, said that in the last hours some 12 police officers were injured in clashes with protesters, according to the Reuters news agency.

The newspaper La Estrella de Panama reported that Chiquita cars were taken by hooded.

According to the EFE news agency, “this week a new special law entered into force with greater labor benefits for the workers of the banana trees”, after an agreement that was reached with the unionists of the sector to lift the blockages in the transport roads.

But other sectors ignored that agreement.

*With information from Leonardo Rocha and Jaroslav Lukiv