There have been confrontations with police that have killed at least one and injured around 30 in a key banana-exporting province. Panama has announced a state of emergency in the west province of Bocas del Toro, where anti-government demonstrators in opposition to a pension overhaul bill have been accused of burning down a baseball stadium and looting shops, including a provincial airport.
The demonstrations that broke out two months earlier in Bocas del Toro, a large banana-producing area, escalated this week, ending in a confrontation with police that killed a person and hurt around 30 individuals, among them several officers, police said on Friday.
Presidential Minister Juan Carlos Orillac stated during a news conference on Friday that the decision to suspend certain constitutional rights and prohibit public gatherings would enable the government to restore order and “rescue” the province from “radical groups”, stating that the destruction caused to public properties was “unacceptable and did not constitute a legitimate protest”.
In the wake of the collapse of order and episodes of systematic violence, the state will apply its constitutional role to ensure peace,” he added. The protesters, supported by unions and Indigenous groups nationwide, have clashed with the authorities over a pension reform law enacted in March.
Clashes have been most severe in Bocas del Toro, spearheaded by employees of a local Chiquita banana plantation. The multinational banana giant Chiquita denounced the workers’ strike as an “unjustified abandonment of work” and fired thousands of workers.
