Anti-mining rallies in Panama have turned deadly in the last two weeks, according to police, after a man allegedly fired and killed two people.
A disturbing video posted by bystanders on X, formerly known as Twitter, showed a disheveled elderly man
Frustrated with the protestors’ inability to remove a barrier blocking the Pan-American highway about 50 miles south of the capital before pulling out a pistol and opening fire. The alleged gunman was later apprehended at the scene of the incident, according to Panama’s National Police.
The extraordinary image of violence is the latest flashpoint in some of the greatest protests to erupt in the Central American country since Panamanians flooded the streets en masse to denounce Manuel Noriega’s regime in the 1980s.
Thousands of protestors have been outraged for weeks over a contentious mining contract awarded to Minera Panama, a Panamanian subsidiary of a Canadian mining company, to harvest copper, a critical component in electric car batteries.
Panama: Protests Against Copper Mine Deal Turn Deadly
The agreement allows Canada’s First Quantum Minerals to resume an open-pit copper mine surrounded by rainforest for the next 20 years, with an option to extend for another 20.
Environmentalists fear the mine will poison drinking water and destroy large portions of the 32,000 acres the business has agreed to lease in exchange for $375 million in annual payments.
However, Panama’s administration has pledged that the mine will provide thousands of jobs and much-needed revenue. First, Quantum Minerals did not respond to CNN’s request for comment on the protests.
Environmentalists, indigenous organizations, teachers’ and construction unions have joined forces in opposition to the project, citing claims of backroom transactions between the government and the mining business as fresh evidence of pervasive official corruption.
Protesters accuse the government of selling off the country’s natural riches at a time when many Panamanians are facing the effects of growing inflation and climate change.
“Panamanians are suffering from a lack of water, from droughts, particularly in the central provinces, from animals dying and harvests not taking place,” environmental campaigner Martita Cornejo told CNN en Espanol.
Panama: Protests Against Copper Mine Deal Turn Deadly
“The government did not guage the opposition from Panamanian society to a mining contract.”
While much of the criticism is genuine, former US ambassador to Panama John Feeley believes the new contract announcement has allowed some groups to try to extract their concessions and gain sweetheart deals from the government.
“This is the horrible thing about Panama: Even when you protest corruption, you are probably facilitating it as well,” he said.
Protesters’ roadblocks have shut down the country for weeks, preventing farmers from transporting products to market and stranding Panamanians in their homes. According to Panama’s organization of business executives, the halt costs local businesses $80 million daily. Last week’s celebrations to honor Panama’s independence from Colombia in 1903 were also largely postponed.
After the mining deal was announced on October 20, Panama’s President Laurentino Cortizo defended it, claiming it would provide employment and revenue.
The mine was a rare economic bright spot for Panama, where tourism has been slow to recover from the epidemic
and the drought has slowed transit via the Panama Canal, causing a $200 million revenue drop in 2024.
“We made the right decision, not the easiest one,” Cortizo explained. “After a difficult and complicated negotiation for more than two years, a contract was agreed in 2023 between the company Minera and the Panamanian State, which guarantees much better terms and conditions for the country.”
Panama: Protests Against Copper Mine Deal Turn Deadly
However, as the protests continued, their administration made compromises that did little to alleviate the crisis: Congress passed a moratorium on any additional metal mining last week, and Cortizo has asked for a statewide referendum on the controversial scheme in December.
The paSupreme Court found another contract to run the copper mine unlawful in 2017, prompting the mining corporation and government to renegotiate the agreement.
Opponents are now hoping that a statement by their Supreme Court this week that it is investigating the contract’s legitimacy would kill the transaction once more.
Whatever the crisis’s outcome, it may be too late to rebuild Panama’s reputation in the area as a rare bulwark of political and economic stability.
SOURCE – (CNN)
