Labour Wins & Rising Repression: 50 Days of Panama’s National Strike

After more than 50 days of protests, the strike in Panama continues. The resistance of workers, doctors, teachers, students, and the population overall, has surprised many supporters of the right-wing president, José Raúl Mulino, who expected the actions of the protesters to wane after a couple of weeks.

The strike was declared to oppose the pension reform, which could decrease the amount of money retirees receive and potentially open Social Security to privatization.

Protests have also increasingly focused on the security agreements between Panama and Washington, specifically the proposal to install four US military bases in the Central American territory – promoted by the Trump administration’s new geopolitical plan, which declared that his country would “recover” the Panama Canal.

Protests are also being carried out to improve the general working conditions of laborers and indigenous peoples, and against the reopening of a mine that was turned over to a Canadian company.

New rights won by agricultural workers

After intense protests and difficult negotiations, the Panamanian National Assembly approved a law establishing a series of benefits for banana workers, who were participating in the national strike. The government, following the banana workers’ refusal to end the strike, relied on the mediation of religious authorities.

The agricultural workers’ protests, carried out mainly in the province of Bocas del Toro (bordering Costa Rica), affected large companies, such as Chiquita Brands, which decided to lay off thousands of workers.

After talks, the banana workers agreed to lift the strike in exchange for the approval of the law, which allows men to retire before 62 years of age. It also includes subsidies to the families of agricultural workers due to their precarious living conditions, among other benefits.

Nevertheless, the assembly’s decision does not negate the struggle, says Francisco Smith, the banana union leader. According to Smith, these gains demonstrate the legitimacy of the strike. “We will continue fighting because Chiquita Panama is still missing,” said Smith about the re-hiring of the workers dismissed by the banana company.

“Operation Omega”

However, the Mulino government seems to be negotiating on the one hand while increasing the repression of the protesters on the other. The protesters have stated that they will not drop the measures until the government backs down on the pension reform.

The secretary general of the Teachers Association of Panama (ASOPROF), Fernando Ábrego, stated:”The indefinite strike continues. The workers need to guarantee decent pensions for the working class.”

In addition, Ábrego denounced the Panamanian government’s use of force against protestors: ”We have denounced the savage repression and the violation of the law.” The union leader is referring to the president’s new “Operation Omega”, which seeks to regain control of the roads that protestors have taken over for many days. More than 1,300 policemen have participated in the operation.

Operation Omega has resulted in the arrest of 48 protesters in Bocas del Toro. Some protesters were detained after confrontations with the police, while others were captured for allegedly having participated in illegal actions.

For now, 34 people have been prosecuted by the Public Prosecutor’s Office and 14 have been brought before the so-called “peace judges”. Among them is union leader Francisco Smith, who was arrested in Panama City on June 15, together with four other union leaders.

On June 18, Panamanian police also arrested Eduardo García, a student leader and member of the national leadership of the National Front for the Defense of Economic and Social Rights (FRENADESO).

Garcia was expelled from the University of Panama for 5 years for participating in the strike, demonstrating the complex web of power relations in the Central American country, and how the strike has become a struggle at all fronts of Panamanian society.

Courtesy: Peoples Dispatch