Protest in Panama against Canadian mining company First Quantum Minerals (Photo: Arnulfo Franco, AP)
Panamanians are in protest against a contract granted to a Canadian Mining Company. Black communities are particularly impacted by environmental degradation and displacement caused by open-pit mining.
Originally published in AfroResistance.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CITY OF PANAMA, PANAMA - November 1st, 2023
The Panamanian government approved a contract with Minera Panama, a subsidiary of the multinational company First Quantum Minerals, with the same constitutional flaws as the contract approved in 1997. This fact has sparked anger throughout society and mobilized public outrage across Panama. Several sectors, especially those from black communities near the mining region in the province of Colon, have joined this struggle. The Panamanian population is protesting in the streets due to their disagreement with mining extractivism and the undemocratic and repressive manner in which this contract with Minera Panama was approved. This open-pit mine is the largest in Central America and one of the largest in Latin America, located in the District of Donoso in the province of Colon, which has the highest black population in the country.
Public indignation centers around the recent accelerated approval of the contract with Minera Panama, a decision made against the will of the Panamanian people. This approval allows Minera Panama to continue extracting copper, gold, molybdenum, and other minerals for more than 20 years, extendable, in the midst of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor.
Protesters argue that mining operations have caused significant environmental degradation, displacement of local communities, and a decrease in the quality of life for residents. These social impacts are intrinsically linked to the history of mining in the country, which has disproportionately affected black communities through displacement and marginalization, thus deepening the inequalities experienced in the sixth most unequal country in the world.
In Panama, there are fifteen approved contracts for open-pit metallic mining exploitation, exploration, and beneficiation. Of these fifteen contracts, the copper mine Minera Panama, owned by First Quantum Minerals, is the one currently exploiting mineral resources and generating benefits to this date. By 2022, they reported two billion two hundred fifty-nine million dollars, of which they paid 2% in royalties, that is, fifty-seven million dollars. However, this large-scale operation has now become a focal point of public agitation.
Civil society organizations argue that such decisions have been made without sufficient public consultation, violating the EscazĂș Agreement, which is the Law of the Republic and precisely favors citizen participation. The population has mobilized due to their awareness of the social and environmental impacts of mining, especially in the black communities of the rich biodiversity of the Colon region. The mining experience in the country involves displacement and marginalization, greater impoverishment of communities, abuses towards women due to the presence of outsiders in the communities, and changes in agricultural production due to the mining-imposed border.
Today in the streets, the following are demanded:
- Guarantee the right to protest safely and that law enforcement agencies stop abuse and the use of force against protesters.
- That Deputies of the country put on the Panama jersey, abandon the servility they carry within, and have a minimum amount of love for the land that saw them born. May they not jeopardize the future of this country.
- Demand that the Supreme Court of Justice assume its role and promptly restore social peace to the country by declaring the Law 406 contract unconstitutional, which was irresponsibly approved by the Assembly of Deputies and signed by the President of the Republic in less than 72 hours.
- Call for an indefinite retroactive mining moratorium law that stops all pending applications, extensions, or any permits for mining exploitation in Panama.
- Respect the international agreements and treaties that the country has signed regarding the environment and the protection of environmental defenders in our country.
- Demand that the three branches of the State respect the will of the people, who have made it clear that Panama is worth more without mining and that it is not a people with a colonial enclave mentality.
For more information, please contact:
Chevy Solis, Director of the Institute of Human Rights, chevy@afroresistance.org
Marcia Olivo, Program Director, marcia@afroresistance.org
The world has lost a champion of justice with the passing of Mario Joseph, a Haitian human rights lawyer who spent nearly three decades fighting for victims of state violence, cholera negligence, andâŠ
Monther Abed, the sole survivor of the Israeli attack on paramedics in Rafah, reveals the details of the crime in which 15 humanitarian workers were killed.
For 76 years, Gaza has been has been the defiant heart of Palestinian resistance. Today, as Israelâs genocidal war lays bare the brutal dead end of Zionism, Gazaâs struggle transcends geography,âŠ
Betar U.S., a far-right Zionist organization with ties to violent extremism, is quietly shaping Trump administration policy, compiling lists of pro-Palestine activists for deportation while openlyâŠ
The Dominican far-rightâs violent march on Friusa collapsed in disarray, exposing weakness in the movement as racist mobs failed to overrun a working-class community. However, the threat remains.âŠ
