After more than two months of strikes and protests against an insurance law, various groups led by teachers marched in Panama City to demand the repeal of the insurance law and denounce forced disappearances.
A march and a demonstration where the groups presented various demands marked the protests; according to the Secretary General of the Teachers Association, Fernando Abrego, they will remain firm in the streets, as their struggle is supported by builders, health professionals, indigenous people, and students, among others, until they achieve decent pensions and a change in the country that allows for social justice.
For his part, Yamir Cordoba, the organizational secretary of the National Union of Workers in the Construction and Related Industries, reported that the whereabouts of four protesters detained in Bocas del Toro province remain unknown, amid the state of emergency declared on June 20 by a dictatorial and undemocratic government.
Likewise, the coordinator of the National Front for the Defense of Economic and Social Rights, Jorge Guzmán, stated that as part of their actions, they have enlisted the support of international human rights organizations and their intervention to stop abuses against the defenseless population, as is happening in the town of Changuinola, in this province.
Regarding the current situation in Panama, the Latin American Episcopal Council pointed to evidence of systematic abuses committed by security forces, including arbitrary arrests, excessive use of force, harassment, threats with weapons, tear gas attacks on homes, and direct attacks on people not participating in the protests.
Even amid this turmoil, Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino traveled to the Spanish city of Seville to fulfill a busy agenda at the invitation of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
He also participated in several high-level economic meetings, including with the president of the Inter-American Development Bank, Ilan Goldfajn, where support for Panama’s accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development will be announced.
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