Over the last month, Panama has faced one of the most significant cycles of protests and social mobilizations in recent decades. Almost daily, hundreds of people have taken to the streets across the country to show their disapproval of the measures the current government of José Raúl Mulino has adopted. Meanwhile, far from any attempt at dialogue, the Executive branch has so far responded with a growing escalation of repression.
The indefinite general strike began on April 23, led by the education sector, in protest against the regressive reform of the pension system, which is focused on repealing Law 462. The mobilization quickly spread throughout Panama, including new sectors and other diverse agendas. Today, the powerful construction workers’ union, known in Spanish as Suntracs, rural workers – particularly those from the banana industry – Indigenous peoples, students and various civil society organizations take part in the movement.
The pension system reform was one of the Mulino government’s main promises, after the two previous istrations failed to implement it. Since its announcement in November last year, trade unions and social movements have held a series of protests, denouncing that their proposals have been ignored and that the final text of the reform exclusively serves business interests.
The rejection of pension reform is widespread. According to a recent poll carried out by DoxaPanama, 82% of the Panamanian population oppose reforming the social security system.
However, what triggered people’s outrage was the recent agreement unilaterally signed between the Panamanian government and the United States. The announcement was made on April 10, after the Mulino government authorized the deployment of troops and the expansion of the US military presence in Panamanian territory without any debate in parliament or public consultation.
Trade unions and social movements accuse the government of making decisions despite the population’s needs and giving up national sovereignty. At the same time, the growing popular dissatisfaction was clear in the fall of President Mulino’s popularity, whose disapproval rate reached almost 70% of the population at the end of April.
An even more unfair pension system
Law 462, approved without popular consultation or debate in parliament, promotes a radical transformation of the Panamanian pension system. The main change is the replacement of the intergenerational solidarity model – in which workers fund the pensions of current beneficiaries – with an individual scheme.
For Mulino’s istration, the reform is needed to save a system supposedly on the verge of collapse. For trade unions, analysts and social organizations, it is a disguised privatization step for public pensions.
In an interview with BdF, the leader of the Panamanian teachers’ union, Diógenes Sánchez, said: “With the previous legislation, we could retire on 60% to 70% of our salary. Now, with the new formula, that amount drops to just 30% to 35%. It’s a starvation pension.”
“This change mainly affects younger people. All men under 55 and all women under 50 are forced to migrate to the new system, which doesn’t guarantee any kind of financial stability or dignity for the elderly,” she warns.
A militarized country
Faced with growing social unrest, the Mulino government responded by escalating repression. The country is practically militarized: police forces with riot gear have been deployed at transport terminals, universities, rural communities and shopping malls.
Diógenes Sánchez denounces that the National Police have raided schools, demanded from principals lists with strikers’ names and searched union leaders’ homes illegally.
“In the end, we live in an undeclared state of siege. We are subjected to a process of militarization led by the National Police itself, which, over time, became a military force, especially since its actions in the context of the migration project. This transformation has been gradual, but in practice, the police have been used as an instrument of repression and persecution of the Panamanian people,” he says.
In this context of intense persecution, Saúl Méndez, leader of Suntracs, formally requested asylum in Bolivia. He denounced he was being persecuted by plainclothes agents in unidentified vehicles and had his physical integrity threatened.
In an interview with BdF, Méndez said that resisting the US military presence in Panama has been a constant in the history of the Panamanian people’s struggle and that they are not willing to give up.
“For more than a hundred years, the Panamanian people have fought the US military presence to retake the canal and fully exercise their sovereignty. This has always been a constant in our history. Finally, we managed to get free of US troops, taking back the canal and adjacent areas,” he said.
He adds that although “problems persist”, one of the main ones is that “five wealthy families have historically controlled the canal, doing business, diverting resources and taking advantage at the expense of the people.” However, he points out that “this is an internal issue, which is up to us, Panamanians, to resolve.”
The provinces of Veraguas, Bocas del Toro and Chiriquí have been hotspots of state repression. In these regions, Indigenous communities have denounced violent invasions, arbitrary detentions and even forced disappearances. Meanwhile, the unions are denouncing the cancellation of their legal status, the invasion of union headquarters and the freezing of their bank s.
