In a statement, the governing body of one of the Panamanian seven ethnic groups pointed that the action is aimed at denouncing the criminalization and threats that indigenous leaders have suffered at the hands of police forces amid protests against Law 462, which have resulted in several arrests.

“The Gunadule people of the Guna Yala region repudiate and denounce before the country and the world the vile and cowardly abuse of the indigenous population of Panama, violating all national and international law and the norms that protect their rights,” the text reads.

The document also specifies that the atrocities committed by the government against indigenous peoples and the Panamanian people is a crime against humanity that will not go unpunished.

The congress also demanded the immediate release of the indigenous leaders and other native leaders, currently deprived of their liberty.

It also reaffirmed its position of rejecting the agreement signed with the United States that allows the establishment of military bases and the executive branch’s intention to reopen the Donoso copper mine (Colon province), despite a 2023 Supreme Court ruling ordering its closure.

Several European and international trade union confederations, in turn, issued statements in solidarity with the main leaders of the Single Union of Construction Workers and others arrested and tried in fraud trials like Genaro Lopez and Jaime Caballero.

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