Pot bangers break curfew silence demanding VP resignation
The evening silence in a city under lockdown was broken at 7 pm, on Sunday, May 3 as thousands of residents across Panama went to their windows to bang pots and pans, to demand the resignation of the Vice President and Minister of the Presidency, José Gabriel Carrizo.
The cacophony was were heard loudly from buildings and residences of San Francisco, Betania, Bella Vista, Pueblo Nuevo, Parque Lefevre, Río Abajo, Juan Díaz and San Miguelito.
The protest was called by social network users, who are confined to their homes due to the pandemic due to the new coronavirus.
They demand transparency in government purchases for health issues, as well as in the good use of public funds, and they call an investigation of the multi-million purchase of hospital ventilators and other items to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
On April 27, President, Laurentino Cortizo, accepted the resignation of Vice Minister of the Presidency Juan Carlos Muñoz, who earlier had struggled to explain why they were going to buy 100 fans at a six or seven times the going price.
The scandal erupted after the digital medium Foco announced that the unit price of the purchase was $48,950 when in the market they could be purchased at $6,900.
