According to legislators Nixon Andrade, of the Democratic Change party, and Walkiria Chandler, of the independent Vamos coalition, this policy only responds to the misguided concept of arming the police to defend the government from protests, which are increasing every day.

The deputies referred in their reports to an investigation by the newspaper La Estrella de Panamá, which claims that arms imports by the Ministry of Security increased by 100%.

According to Andrade, although authorities claim there were no deaths during the recent police intervention in the western province of Bocas del Toro during Operation Omega, “deaths continue to appear in the Changuinola morgue due to dubious circumstances,” he emphasized.

Andrade, a representative of the Ngäbe-Buglé region, asserted that instead of using weapons to combat organized crime, they are used “to repress every sign of protest.”

Chandler also referred to the abuse of force and said that the purchases made by the Ministry of Security are not used to protect citizens, “but to massacre them.”

jrr/arm/rc/ga