Teachers and rights activists on the march in Panama

Only two days after violent confrontations between police and demonstrating union workers, teachers and rights activists plan to take to the streets Thursday (March 18). 
They will assemble in Parque Omar, but it is anticipated that it will be a peaceful rally as Education Minister Lucy Molinar took a less hard line approach than the government did with the construction workers (SUNTRACS).
She said on TVN News that she respects the right to dissent and to demonstrate, "but we cannot harm our students”
The teachers’ organizations said they would march against the curriculum reform.

The National Front for the Defense of Economic and Social Rights will also participate in the demonstration.
Molinar stressed that the Panamanian students are lacking in "a better quality” of education.

The minister indicated that they had reports that the situation was normal on campus.

"Nothing is happening. We cannot paralyze the country for a day because I want to protest," she said.
It could be a summer of discontent for the Martinelli administration, and frustration for drivers and the transportation system as two other union groups have hinted at demonstrations, and SUNTRACS is planning its next steps.