Panama suspended constitutional protections, including the rights to assemble and of free movement, for five days in its northwestern Bocas del Toro province after two months of protests and road blockades turned more destructive the previous night. Presidential Minister Juan Carlos Orillac said in a news conference that the move would allow the government to reestablish order and “rescue the province” from “radical groups.”
What began as nationwide protests against changes to the social security system morphed into people damaging the local airport and the facilities of banana giant Chiquita Brands, which fired thousands of striking workers in the province last month. Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino had said at the time that the banana workers’ strike was illegal and included some 5,000 workers.
Protests, marches, and occasional roadblocks have stretched from one end of the country to the other as teachers, construction workers and other unions rejected changes the government said were necessary to keep the social security system solvent. Demonstrations have occasionally turned violent, but the forced entrance of people to an airport and banana facility overnight triggered Friday’s government reaction.
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