Protest flames burning in the rain

The Friday tropical downpour did not deter a few hundred young protestors from their 10^th day of  demonstrating against sexual, physical, and psychological abuse at misnamed  “shelters”  under the umbrella of the National Secretariat for Children, Adolescents and the Family (Senniaf), which in many cases subsidized the NGOs and foundations running them.

The protests have taken place at the Senniaf offices and I have been able to observe them firsthand as my office is  a stone’s throw from the site and I have watched daily as truckloads of National Police arrive before 3 pm to block off surrounding streis ets and then see the arriving stream of largely young protestors carrying who leave at 7 pm followed by a convoy of police vehicles driving the wrong way up the road      behind  the Santo Tomas Hospital.

“You have a problem when your  always focused on investment grades and gross domestic product, and a country called the ‘Dubai of the Americas’ gives dog food to children, constant rape and abuse and with the complicit silence of the government authorities, ”said university student Ismael González, a member of the Transformation Generation group

On Wednesday in a televised address, President Cortizo referred to the issue for the first time and demanded punishment with the “maximum rigor of the law for those responsible for crimes committed against the rights of girls, boys, and adolescents”.  

But on Friday the recently named Panama Governor Karla Garcia who was a former Senniaf official was a no-show for the Lotteria draw, conveniently dodging media questions.