Security forces join activists in highway cleanup

A group of people, including authorities, carried out a cleaning of the Pan-American highway in Eastern Chiriquí on Saturday, December 2 after a group of farmers, teachers, and indigenous groups withdrew from their closure points and proceeded to reopen the road on learning of the publication in the Official Gazette of the ruling of the  Supreme Court on the contract between the State and Minera Panamá.

Toribio García, the spokesperson for the indigenous people in the Viguí sector, reported that once this ruling was issued, this group of protesters decided to get off the streets and begin returning to their homes.

Security forces from the National Police and Technical Board participated in this cleanup, coordinated by the Government of Chiriquí, and, with the collaboration of activists in different parts of Eastern Chiriquí and, personnel from the National Civil Protection System (Sinaproc) also participated.

One of the areas cleaned was San Félix, where protesters kept the highway closed for more than a month as a measure of opposition to the mining contract. Among the debris removed were car tires, large tree branches, and trails of ash,  among others.