Teachers Protest Expands in Scope, Reaches Critical Point

A unified opposition and growing demonstrations across the country put pressure on Mulino to change tack

One of the enjoyable things about having a Substack is that I can make bold predictions that would never get past my editors. Three weeks ago, I proposed that President José Raúl Mulino’s “Ostrich-Cockroach strategy” might be the best way for Panama to emerge unscathed from its run-in with Donald Trump’s America. I was wrong! But I did offer another plausible outcome:

Alternatively, China could sue the nation of Panama for expropriating the ports, anti-mine protesters could shut down the country and Mulino could be impeached for allowing the establishment of a US base.

The first of those hasn’t happened (yet) and the third only in a roundabout, not-likely to succeed way, but today the country took some steps towards the second point.

Panama’s public school teachers have been on strike for six days in protest of the reform of the social security system. Although small, they succeeded in shutting down major roads in the capital.

Yesterday the strikes intensified across the country and Sal de las Redes, a key organizing group behind the 2023 anti-mine protests joined the action. Their stated motives go far beyond those of the teachers:

Points 1 & 2 relate to Mulino’s statements regarding the possible opening of the mine. Points 4 & 5 oppose the MOU allowing the expansion of US military presence in Panama.

In response, Mulino offered to meet directly with the leadership of Sal de Las Redes, but the latter refused, saying no dialogue was possible while the government “put national sovereignty at risk.” They went on to demand that Mulino respect the supreme court ruling on the mine closure, put any agreements surrounding the Panama Canal and surrounding zones (i.e. the recent deals with the US) to a plebiscite and to overturn the recent social security reform.

Mulino isn’t going to do any of that. So the protests will continue.

Today was also the day that opposition parties made their move. Last year’s second and third placed presidential candidates, Ricardo Lombana and Martín Torrijos, together with 28-year-old Juan Diego Vásquez, Panama’s most popular politician, and several other figures signed a declaration of “National Unity and Defense of Sovereignty.”

It calls for the rejection of the deals signed during Pete Hegseth’s visit and a united common strategy from here on.

The government appears in disarray.

Two weeks ago the vice-minister of foreign affairs, Carlos Ruiz-Hernández and the ministry’s popular press secretary Mayella Lloyd, were forced to resign over the joint statements cock-up. After dodging the national assembly’s foreign relations commission for three months, minister Javier Martínez-Acha finally got his grilling on Tuesday. He insisted that the government does have a strategy for dealing with Trump’s threats but declined to elaborate on what it was, saying only that it is a marathon rather than a sprint.

I’m not in Panama this week but I’m told the protests in the capital, so far, have been small scale (Sal de Las Redes use some clever camera angles). The ones in Santiago look pretty big, however. Mulino is now under pressure to sit down with the National Unity group and reveal the details of the talks held with Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth and explain to them what, exactly, the government’s strategy is.

As Martínez-Acha pointed out before the commission, there are very good tactical reasons to keep one’s cards close to one’s chest. But after Hegseth-gate the government has lost trust and the benefit of the doubt. If Mulino refuses to work with opposition leaders they could lend their weight to the protests.

I asked a journalist friend what he was seeing on the ground:

There is a lot of movement all across the country. There are many different factions. The teachers, the construction workers, the students, the environmental activists. It hasn’t exploded yet, but we are reaching a critical point.

OTHER NEWS

⚓Port action: Last week, TST declared that the government would look to hand off the Margarita Island port project to a new company. Two days later, Mulino confirmed he would call a new tender for the project.

🌴Darién Reborn: TST also suggested that the end of the migrant trail offered an opportunity to reforest the Darién Gap. Last week the minister of environment called for a joint Panama-US effort to clean-up and protect the Gap.

🤓Nerd alert: Ever wonder what Panama would look like if the US just went ahead and took over the whole country? Footnote-lover Prof Noel Maurer digs into the legal and financial implications. “Annex Panama” he concludes.