Food Logistics Delayed: Protests in Bocas del Toro Panama

After more than a month of protests in the Bocas del Toro area of ​​Panama, there is already a severe impact on food logistics.  It is reported that 90% of the notification, import, transit, and transshipment procedures for food entering the country from the region and using the province as a transportation route have been impacted. This alert was issued by Carmen Peralta, head of Entry Points for the Panamanian Food Agency (APA).  The affected cargo movement is that coming from Central America or that which must be transported to Europe or the United States.  Some of the affected products are “key products such as bananas, dairy products, pineapple, mangoes, and squash.

Likewise, oversight of goods in open transit for duty-free stores continues, including liquor, canned goods, chocolates, and energy drinks,” said the APA Head of Entry Points.  Peralta explained that between June 2024 and April 2025, the APA regional headquarters in Guabito and Almirante, Bocas del Toro, reported a monthly average of 69 import notifications, 381 transit notifications, and 19 transshipment notifications. However, he said, in May 2025, these figures dropped to just seven import notifications, 32 transit notifications, and 18 transshipment notifications, as a result of the protest. 

Due to the road closures and obstructions, Peralta does not rule out an economic impact on the lost revenue from the various procedures, although he clarified that the agency does not handle that type of information.  This same strike is what led Chiquita to close its operations in Panama, laying off some 5,000 employees.  Banana growers and other workers in Bocas del Toro are maintaining an indefinite strike, as they believe that Law 45, which protects their labor rights, was affected by the reforms made to the CSS through Law 462. 

Panama President calls in Archbishop, Rabbi in bid to Mediate with Striking Banana Workers

Panama’s José Raúl Mulino appeals to a higher power, calling in an archbishop and a rabbi to deliver a message to striking banana workers after nearly two months of social protest that have roiled the country.  Mulino has said he won’t reverse controversial changes to Panama’s social security system. Courts have deemed the strike illegal and top banana Chiquita Brands fired nearly 5,000 striking workers last month in the western Bocas del Toro province.  But nothing has stopped the protests.  So at his weekly news briefing, Mulino says he had met with Archbishop José Domingo Ulloa and one of Panama’s leading Jewish figures, Rabbi Gustavo Kraselnik, to enlist them as intermediaries. He gave Ulloa a personal letter to bring to Francisco Smith, the leader of the striking banana workers’ union.  In the letter, Mulino says he committed to sending proposed legislation to the Congress that would be favorable for the country’s banana sector, above all its workers. But he conditioned the proposal on former workers lifting their protest.

Marcela, who arrived on Colón Island five years ago with her husband and three daughters, describes a bleak picture: “Tourism is incredibly low. May is normally a weak month, but with this crisis, it’s plummeting. June and July are usually better, but with the current situation, there’s nothing,” she laments. The silence on the streets of Isla Colón says it all.  Closed businesses, absent tourists, and desperate families paint the new face of what was once the crown jewel of Bocas del Toro.

 “The Crisis in Bocas del Toro is no Longer a Warning: it’s a Painful and Urgent Reality.” 

This was stated by the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama (CCIAP), more than a month after an indefinite banana strike and massive roadblocks.  As a result of this crisis, the province is facing “the collapse of its economic activity, shortages of food, medicine, and gas,” the union warned, also highlighting the direct impact on thousands of families following the departure of the region’s main employment provider.  This is Chiquita Panama, which completely ceased its administrative operations in the Changuinola district, after more than a month of stoppage.  “The withdrawal of a company that is an anchor in the local economy not only affects its direct employees; it is a devastating blow to commerce, suppliers, services, transportation, and all the people who depend on these activities. It is a blow to the social stability of the entire province,” stated the CCIAP.  In its column, “La Cámara Opina,” the union also spoke out about the assault and detention of a tourist, an incident that was recorded on video and went viral on social media.

“This incident puts another of the province’s major economic drivers at risk: Tourism. The damage to Panama’s image is devastating, and the consequences for one of the country’s most iconic destinations are profound,” it emphasized.  In the context of the search for solutions, Francisco Smith, general secretary of the Banana Industry Workers Union (Sitraibana), held a meeting with the metropolitan archbishop of Panama, José Domingo Ulloa, who, along with Rabbi Gustavo Kraselnik, has been appointed as an intermediary by President José Raúl Mulino to mediate in the social crisis affecting Bocas del Toro.  In this regard, the CCIAP acknowledged these signs of commitment, but was emphatic: “We clearly warn: the situation cannot endure another day of inaction. We demand that partisan politics remain on the sidelines. This is about thinking about Panama and, in this specific case, about the people of Bocas del Toro. It is our obligation to the affected population,” she concluded.