Unemployment persisted in the province of Panama and claims increased

The deputy coordinator of the Broad Front, Felipe Cabeza, told Prensa Latina, that the popular movements demand the presence of the President of the Republic, Laurentino Cortizo, in the region, to listen to concrete reactions to the problems in the region.

He explained that this explains the committee’s refusal to travel yesterday to the capital to meet with the executive authority.

Among the demands of the colonists, Cabeza mentioned a comprehensive development plan for the province, the solution of unemployment, the lack of drinking water, the poor quality of education in schools, as well as the completion of infrastructure works.

They also demand solutions to revive the vocational and educational training center, the stadium and the hospital, as well as to stop the rise in fuel prices and, accordingly, the rising cost of living.

Kabeza, on behalf of the popular movements, expressed his regret for the killing of a police officer and two civilians of their wounds in yesterday’s demonstrations, in addition to the injury of dozens of others in the midst of violent clashes in various sectors of the province.

He explained that the riot units arrested 31 people, who were released after popular pressure, including community leaders, such as Roman Macias, the front coordinator; social leader Edgardo Voitier; head of selective transport Luis Lopez; and college student Jennifer Malka.

“We in Kowloon have been the heroes of an all-out confrontation because of the government,” he asserted, which failed to deliver on a promise made in November 2021 to develop a plan for social transformation for the benefit of a population mired in inequality and poverty.

The day before, the government had installed a “high-level” dialogue table to meet the demands of the Caribbean, which its leaders blamed for not attending the meeting organized in the Paz Hall of the presidential palace.

The committee consisted of Ministers Luis Francisco Sucre (Health) and Rafael Sapong (Public Works); Deputy Minister of Regional Planning, Jose Batista; And the director of the National Institute of Canals and Sanitation, Juan Antonio Ducruet, among other authorities.

The colonists, for their part, demanded that it be the head of state who would travel to the Caribbean and provide there the answers they awaited to their social demands.

The province of Colón, 80 kilometers from Panama City, contributes a significant income to the GDP of the country of the isthmus, since in addition to operations on the Atlantic side of the interocean channel, it has three ports, is the second largest free trade zone in the world and the largest open-ended copper mine in the world. Central America.

jha / ja