Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo is first and foremost a cattle rancher who entered politics, first as a deputy, then as President of the National Assembly, and finally as Minister of Agricultural Development during the previous government of Martín Torrijos.
The marquee ruling party is the very traditional Partido Revolucionario Democrático, which, like all other major parties in Panama, is strictly center-right. This symbiosis makes it easy to understand why the government is not used to negotiating with the most critical sectors.
For this reason, violent protests continued after the base of social groups decided on Monday to disregard the agreement reached on Sunday between the government and a group of leaders of the ruling party.
The general strike began more than two weeks ago when a group of public school teachers called for a nationwide strike. In a short time, numerous organizations in different parts of the country joined the strike, and the closure of roads, highways, and streets was not long in coming, semi-paralyzing the small country.
However, due to the size and spread of the protests, as well as the lack of unified leadership, it is not possible to consider the demonstrators as a compact block, but rather as representatives of a heterogeneous social group,” said Nelva Araúz, a doctor of law and political science and researcher at the International Center for Political and Social Studies in Panama.
Leading the demands is the Alianza Nacional por los Derechos de los Pueblos (Anadepo), an organization representing 20 groups of teachers, farm workers, fishermen, transportation workers, and students.
But these sectors are not the only ones taking to the streets. Panama also has other groups, such as the National Coordinating Committee of Indigenous Peoples and the Unified Union of Construction Workers, and this diversity makes it much more difficult in some cases to negotiate and find points of agreement on their demands in the face of the rising cost of living.
While the president announced on Sunday a reduction in fuel prices that would also affect the value of food and medicine, the petition of the civilian forces contains 32 points, including wage increases, a freeze on food prices, incentives for national production, and, of course, the historic demand of the Panamanian people: the elimination of U.S. military bases in their country.
Although Cortizo has tried to bring the parties to the negotiating table, calling for a “sincere dialogue without a double agenda,” many leaders have not accepted the invitation. The government tried again last weekend, setting up two dialogue tables, one with Anadepo and one with indigenous representatives, but some of the leadership again declined the invitation.
At the same time, some union representatives denounce that the government has called for the repression of the demonstrators. “We were informed that the police were firing real bullets,” Saúl Méndez, general secretary of the construction union, later denounced.
“We condemn it, we reject it and we call on the population to oppose this brutality,” he said, holding the Cortizo government directly responsible.
Claire Nevache-Weill of the International Center for Political and Social Studies in Panama, another researcher on the situation, agrees that “the government is not used to dissent,” she says, adding that she thinks Cortizo could stem discontent by addressing demands for sectors.
“Because to meet the structural demands, the country’s model needs to be revised much more profoundly, as is happening in Chile,” he points out. “But we are not at that point yet,” he says.
For her part, Nelva Araúz affirms that the government’s credibility is at stake. Especially when protesters do not trust their authorities or the dialogue tables.
“The population feels that the assemblies are not useful, but delay attention to their most important needs,” says the Panamanian International Center for Political and Social Studies researcher.
And it points to the only way out that the government seems to find in this tense situation in the country of the interoceanic canal: the convening of a single dialogue table, involving all sectors and providing clear answers and defined deadlines.