Business Chamber throws down the gauntlet to President Cortizo

Panama’s Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (Cciap) has sent a strong message to President Cortizo to live up to his constitutional promises and restore free transit in the country, after five weeks of protests and road blockades in rejection of the mining contract.

The business chamber highlighted that parents, producers, businessmen, civil society organizations, professionals, and numerous other citizens ask President Cortizo, to take action and that they are not asking for a favor; They are demanding compliance with what is established in the Political Constitution of the Republic.

“So what else do the president and his government team need to happen so that Panamanians are given back our freedoms? Are the reported deaths not enough as a result of not being able to move due to blockades or closures or the hundreds of thousands of missed medical appointments?” the union expresses in its weekly message.

The business sector considers that it is unacceptable for the Executive to see how some 40,000 students lose their school year. In addition, they warn about the loss of jobs, companies that will go bankrupt, and that currently thousands of agricultural producers are watching how a year’s work rots in trucks.

“What we need is for the President of the Republic to comply with what he promised when he was sworn in and give instructions to his Minister of Security and his Minister of Government, to ensure that the Constitution is respected! The Population does not ask for a favor, it demands the fulfillment of a responsibility! Enough of the political calculations.

“Enough of letting things happen, because things don’t happen: every day of chaos ruins a little more the present and the future of millions of citizens, mainly the future of young people and children.”

Since the end of October, the country has been experiencing a crisis as a result of road closures in different parts of the country, after groups began to demonstrate against the approval of the mining contract between the State and Minera Panamá, for the exploitation of copper in Donoso, Colón.

“This inaction and failure to comply with sacred constitutional duties becomes even more evident when we confirm that those directly responsible for the closures throughout the country are a handful of irresponsible people with a clear political and anti-democratic agenda,” reiterates the Cciap.

It is proposed that in the event of a prompt ruling by the Supreme Court on the mining contract, it is essential that there be an environment where the different actors in society can talk and discern about future of the mining project.