The different sides of the struggle in Panama

By: Roberto Morejón

The social atmosphere in Panama has heated up, and various groups, including teachers, indigenous people, trade unions and students, have staged protests on a wide range of issues.

In demonstrations, marches and statements to the press, many Panamanians are showing their irritation with reforms to Law 462 on the Social Security Fund, the labor situation and a memorandum signed by the local government with the United States.

There are so many issues that are being fought over in this Central American country," said a union spokesman, referring to the government of President José Raúl Mulino.

Growing sectors intend to defeat Law 462 on the Social Security Fund, which they consider detrimental to workers and their families.

In the communities, the possible reopening of a closed copper mine, after the judiciary declared the concession contract unconstitutional in 2023, has also caused resentment.

Groups of students and administrators from the University of Panama, who had marched peacefully, denounced the police violence.

Both the students of this higher education center and those of the National Institute marched in defense of sovereignty, as they did decades ago.

They did so because they were concerned about the results of separate visits to Panama by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

From there, agreements emerged on the military presence of troops of the Northern power in the Canal Zone as well as Pentagon ships and planes and the disguised location of bases.

These are steps which, according to union leaders, constitute an affront to national sovereignty and a violation of the Magna Carta, although the government denies it.

Many repudiate statements made by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who suggested that U.S. troops should return to Panama to protect the inter-oceanic waterway from what he called “malign influence” of China.

Panamanians and the rest of the international community are not forgetting U.S. President Donald Trump's insistence on taking back his country's control of the Panama Canal.

Let us remember that the United States dismantled its war enclaves in Panama when it handed over the seaway in 1999, in compliance with treaties signed in 1977.

The testimonies and memories of those years of struggle against foreign presence are still intact, when Panamanians question even the very legitimacy of the political system.