Workers gather to protest mining contract

Construction workers were on the streets across the country on the morning of Monday, September 4, to express their rejection of the mining contract that is being discussed in the National Assembly.

Closures in the capital city were reported on Via Centenario, Villa Zaíta, Panamá Pacífico, exit of the North corridor in Villa Lucre, and on the highway near the Nicolás Solano hospital, La Chorrera. There were also demonstrations on the coastal strip, Costa del Este and Calle 50.

Saúl Méndez, leader of Suntracs, said that the contract for the mining project located in Donoso, Colón province, is leonine, through which national sovereignty is being ceded. “Territory is ceded, airspace and maritime territory is ceded,” Méndez added.

“Down with the law on the mining contract”, and “Down with the corrupt deputies”, the workers chanted at the different protest points.

As reported by Suntracs on social networks, these are mobilizations at the national level to also demand a general increase in wages, against the high cost of living and in defense of the Social Security Fund.

Inside the country, workers staged demonstrations in Azuero, Veraguas, and Chiriquí.