Zulay Rodríguez at a recent Presidential debate with other candidates, was asked how she would have resolved the closure of roads, as occurred in October and November 2023, amid protests over the contract agreed between the Panamanian State and Minera Panamá, SA.  On that occasion as you all will remember, the province of Chiriquí was cut off due to protests against the contract for the Donoso mine, Colón. The Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama estimated that the street closures, following the approval of the mining contract between the State and Minera Panamá, caused losses of between $60 million and $90 million each day. 

Despite the million-dollar losses, Rodríguez defended the closures and said that they would not have reached such magnitude if the Cortizo government had stood up in front of the people and told the truth to begin with. “Everything that happened is regrettable, but there was a greater good, which was to fight against this disastrous mining company… Here, unfortunately, the government did not show its face because if it had shown its face to the public in a proper time frame, this would not have happened,” Rodríguez said. “They needed to go personally to talk to the protesters, but they did not.”