Panama City, May 25 (EFE).- Several feminist groups in Panama marched this Sunday through the capital against several initiatives of the government of Jos\u00e9 Ra\u00fal Mulino and calling for an end to the “repression” in the protests that have been taking place in the country for more than a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The objective is to raise our voices regarding this context that is being experienced in the country. We are 30 days away from a national strike where the rights of women, children, workers, lawyers, and journalists have been violated,” says to EFE Sharon Pringle F\u00e9lix, part of the coordination of the march “Women for sovereignty, social justice, human rights, and peace.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hundreds of women marched through the capital, some dressed in white, others indigenous with their traditional attire, carrying Panamanian flags and signs with messages such as “They imprison us for fighting” or “Panama, danger of extinction.” The march was repeated in other cities of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a statement signed by almost 30 women’s rights groups, they “reaffirm” their commitment to “respect for human rights, dissent, and protest as legitimate mechanisms of democratic participation.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As well as with the “defense of national sovereignty” by rejecting an agreement signed in April between Panama and the United States that expands the temporary and rotating U.S. military presence and rules out the installation of military bases in that country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They also “demand” the repeal of the law that reforms Social Security, considering that it “imposes a pension model that is inconvenient for the majority of the population” and reject “open-pit metal mining” after the Government has indicated its willingness to talk with the mining company about the future of the closed project in 2023, due to a Supreme Court ruling following a wave of protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They ask for dialogue<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n “Faced with authoritarianism, exclusion, and institutionalized corruption, we reaffirm our right to be heard. Repression is not the answer. We demand dialogue, social justice, equity, and a real peace, built from participation, respect, and the notion of the good,” states the statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For over a month, some teaching unions began an indefinite strike, which was joined in stages by the labor, banana, and indigenous groups. Clashes with the Police have been recorded after the protesters tried to cut off the main roads of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The main cause of the protests is the Social Security law, but the security agreement with the U.S., mining, and the construction of a new reservoir for the Panama Canal are also added, the same motivations that today pushed the feminists to march.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most serious situation was recorded in that province of Bocas del Toro, bordering Costa Rica and dependent on both the tourism and banana sectors. There, the Chiquita Panam\u00e1 banana company announced this week the dismissal of almost 5,000 workers on strike after a frustrated dialogue between the Government and the union, as well as the report of some 75 million dollars in losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Indigenous peoples have denounced police violence against them, including that in some regions they are “militarily besieged.” For this reason, they wrote a letter to Pope Leo XIV asking him to intercede with the Executive and to establish a dialogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amid these protests, the country’s main union leader, Sa\u00fal M\u00e9ndez, took refuge last Wednesday in the Bolivian embassy, alleging political persecution, an accusation the government denies. Bolivia has given him “temporary protection” while it analyzes asylum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hours after M\u00e9ndez took refuge in the diplomatic headquarters, the Public Prosecutor’s Office ordered the apprehension of “Panamanian citizens”, including 11 leaders of the powerful Suntracs, one of whom would be M\u00e9ndez, due to an investigation from 2022 following a “complaint filed by former workers of a construction project (…) who were affiliated” with said union.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Panama City, May 25 (EFE).- Several feminist groups in Panama marched this Sunday through the capital against several initiatives of the government of Jos\u00e9 Ra\u00fal Mulino and calling for an end to the “repression” in the protests that have been taking place in the country for more than a month. “The objective is to raise […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":468991,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[40771,40772,14665],"class_list":["post-468990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-international","tag-feminists","tag-march","tag-panama"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phj1q1-1Y0m","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/panama.jpg","dum_api":{"author_name":"EFE","author_image":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/1200px-EFE_logo.svg-96x96.png","categories_name":["International"],"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cdn.deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/panama.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}