Pan-American highway re-opens at dawn after over 12 hours of protests

After more than 12 hours of closure of the Pan-American highway in the San Juan sector of Chiriquí, the group of parents that kept this important road blocked agreed to open it at  2:45 a.m. on Friday, July 14.

Trucks with agricultural products managed to advance after hours of waiting.

Parents from the Besikó sector had decided to demonstrate at about 12:00 noon on Thursday because the authorities of the Ministry of Education did not give them an answer as to why they have not finished building two schools.

Saberio Jurado, a spokesman for the group, said that they sent notes to the authorities to find out the “true causes of the delay,” but they did not give him any information.

 Ariel Rodríguez,  Vice Minister of Education, who arrived at the scene, said that the intention of the ministry is not to “affect anyone”, on the contrary, they have tried to prevent such situations from occurring in the regions.

“It is unfortunate when companies make a commitment and later, these same companies, either due to lack of liquidity, create a situation where logically the parents will be upset,” he added.

Company representatives also came to the site of the demonstration and agreed to restart the work.

The protesters demand that the construction of two schools be completed, which have been paralyzed for around 39 months.

The Indigenous protestors met with the authorities of the Ministry of Education to establish a road map to expedite the construction of schools.

The people trapped in the roadblock complained about the closure because they feel that this harmed citizens who also have needs. Agricultural cargo carriers also pointed out that this causes the loss of products.

Javier Pittí, mayor of Tierras Altas in Chiriquí, affirmed that these closures harm producers in the province, who are already bearing the losses of the extension of the dry season.

Pittí called for quick responses to these closures, in addition to requesting that the right to protest not affect circulation on international road