Panama: Three Fronts and the Crossfire Facing Mulino

Three fronts are rising, each with its own story, but all united around a common target: the current leadership of the country, particularly the agreements signed with the United States and the government’s stance on sovereignty, mining, and social security.

By Eliana Morales Gil (La Prensa de Panamá)

HAVANA TIMES – It wasn’t a strike. Nor just another march. It was the image: former presidential candidates who once rivaled each other in the last electoral campaign, sitting side by side with former independent lawmakers, environmentalists, and others, united in a shared denunciation. In Panamanian politics, where division is the norm, this photograph represents a turning point.

President Jose Raul Mulino is not facing a traditional opposition these days, but rather an unprecedented confluence of unrest: social, union, civic, and political.

Three fronts are rising, each with its own story, but all aiming at the same target: the current direction of the country, particularly because of the agreements signed with the United States and the government’s vision on sovereignty, mining, and social security.

First Front: Unions and Popular Movements – Muscle in the Streets

The most combative of the three is the union and popular front, led by Panama’s largest union: Suntracs, from the construction industry and related sectors. Its list of demands is extensive and direct: repeal of Law 462 that reformed the Social Security Fund, rejection of mining, opposition to the damming of the Río Indio river, and, above all, denunciation of the recent security agreements signed with the United States. This bloc is not only disputing public policies but also the development model itself promoted by the government.

Their pressure is backed by a narrative of sovereignty and social justice, echoing historic struggles. And although their project often divides opinion, in the current context their stance finds resonance in broader sectors like the Panamanian Teachers’ Association, the Veraguas Educators’ Association, and the Authentic Independent Teachers’ Association, which declared a strike in public schools across the country starting April 23, despite public opposition. Suntracs followed suit and also declared a strike.

These groups march daily not only in the capital but also in provinces like Chiriquí, Veraguas, Cocle, Colon, Herrera, and Panama Oeste.

Their strength lies in the social impact of their actions. By affecting the school calendar and construction projects, they place direct pressure on the government and increase the visibility of their protest.

Second Front: “Get Off the Networks”

“Sal de las Redes” (Get Off the Networks) is a citizen group, composed mainly of young people who took to the streets in the last quarter of 2023 to oppose the mining contract law between Panama and the Canadian-based mining company.

They have now resumed marches and protests against the agreements signed between the Panamanian and US governments, which they believe undermine national sovereignty. They also reject any attempt to revive mining projects on Panamanian soil.

They marched from the Cinta Costera to the Presidential Palace last Wednesday. They marched again on Thursday, May 1. And they’ve promised to remain in the streets every day.

“We will continue to call for marches because we are against the political decisions being made by President Mulino. We disagree with the memorandum signed with the United States. We want the repeal of the Social Security law. We are against the amnesty law [for politicians guilty of corruption] being discussed in the Assembly,” said Camila Aybar, one of the group’s spokespeople, just before the start of Wednesday’s afternoon march.

That same day, President Mulino said he wanted to speak with the group’s representatives. “Hopefully today,” he said. He was rebuffed. The group rejected the invitation, arguing, among other things, that “there can be no possible dialogue when the rule of law is being broken and national sovereignty is at risk.”

Some considered this rejection a mistake. “Refusing to engage in dialogue as citizens who want the best for the country is intransigent and radical. Total disappointment,” said economist and former minister Fernando Aramburu Porras.

“Democracy is built through dialogue, not impositions. President @JoseRaulMulino publicly invited Sal de las Redes because he is the president of all Panamanians, with no agenda, with transparency, and facing the people. The country cannot be built with intransigence. I had hoped these young people wouldn’t follow the old political practices that have hurt this country,” wrote Minister of the Presidency Juan Carlos Orillac on X.

Independent former lawmaker Juan Diego Vasquez responded: “Intransigent is the president who wants to choose who he talks to and who he doesn’t. The president answers to the people. He must listen. The people are all of us, not just those who agree with him.”

Third Front: The Multiparty Bloc

The most unexpected development is the multiparty front: a coalition of politicians, lawyers, environmentalists, and internationalists that seemed unthinkable just months ago. They debuted at a press conference on Wednesday, April 30.

What has united them is not a shared ideology, but what they view as a red flag: the agreements signed between Panama and the United States following the visit of US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. They believe these agreements are not only unconstitutional but a direct affront to the Torrijos-Carter Treaties and the Canal Neutrality Treaty.

Sitting at the same table was a high-stakes political act. Among those present were Ricardo Lombana, Martin Torrijos, Juan Diego Vasquez, Gabriel Silva, Ana Matilde Gomez, Guillermo “Willy” Bermudez, Crispiano Adames, Alonso Illueca, and environmentalist Raisa Banfield. Some of these figures had even avoided speaking to each other during the presidential campaign, but now they share microphones in defense of Panamanian sovereignty.

The catalyst was the agreement with the US, now under the administration of Donald Trump, who, even before taking office on January 20, 2025, had threatened to retake control of the Panama Canal—a maritime route vital to global commerce that has been in Panamanian hands since December 31, 1999, thanks to the Torrijos-Carter Treaties.

“No one denies that there can be smooth cooperation with the United States. What we reject is once again handing over Panamanian territory for joint military installations, which is just another way of accepting foreign military presence in this country, something that was prohibited,” said Martín Torrijos on the matter.

Martín Torrijos, son of Omar Torrijos—the leader behind the Torrijos-Carter Treaties—governed Panama from 2004 to 2009. He ran for president in the last election and came in third.

The opposition front warns that there is a growing sense that national sovereignty is being negotiated behind the country’s back. The figure of Hegseth, a Trump envoy on security matters, triggered a reaction that goes beyond diplomacy—it reawakened a historical trauma.

The suspicion that these agreements compromise control over the Canal and undermine post-dictatorship treaties has generated an emotional and political convergence that the government appears to have underestimated.

The official narrative speaks of stability, cooperation, and fighting organized crime. “It is not a surrender of sovereignty under any circumstance,” said Foreign Minister Javier Martinez-Acha last Tuesday in the National Assembly.

“The Memorandum of Understanding is an inter-institutional tool, not a bilateral agreement between the two States,” he added, justifying why it wasn’t presented to the legislature. He also stated that the document does not fall under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and is non-binding. “The document has participants, not parties; it sets out understandings, not obligations,” he said, adding that it includes no clauses.

The Mining Issue

Then there’s the matter of the mine. These days, the government is mapping out the future of the mining project held by Minera Panamá, part of First Quantum Minerals, after the Supreme Court declared the contract signed with the Cortizo administration unconstitutional in November 2023.

In a press conference on April 24, Mulino said the State itself would operate the mine if a decision is made to do so, with a third party handling the technical operations.

“The mine belongs to Panama. Now that the arbitration stage has passed—and I say passed because it has been suspended—it is now a matter of determining its future. That is Panama’s mine, no one else’s. And Panama will exploit it, if it chooses to, as it should: with an operator in charge of the technical part,” he said.

A Common Front or a Confluence of Urgencies?

The big question is whether this convergence of causes will result in a lasting front. So far, the three blocs have acted in parallel but not necessarily in coordination. The possibility of sustained articulation will depend on whether they can build a common agenda or if their internal, especially ideological, differences resurface after the current moment passes.

Mulino is facing not one adversary, but a constellation of resistances. And the way he responds in the coming days will determine whether he can contain this challenge, or whether that image of a multiparty gathering becomes the symbol of a deeper political crisis.

“In this case, we’ve come together around the issue of the Canal. We don’t rule out continuing to meet as a group. We’ve been meeting for two weeks already, setting aside political flags out of concern for the country. So, I don’t think any topic is off the table for this group,” said Ricardo Lombana, leader of the opposition movement Otro Camino. Lombana ran against Mulino in the last presidential race, finishing second with 24.6% of the vote.

Echoes of 2023?

The most pessimistic are already comparing the current scene to Panama to that in the last three months of 2023, marked by anti-mining protests.

The anti-mining protests that unfolded between October and December 2023—characterized by street closures and prolonged blockades had a significant economic impact, according to major business associations.

The National Council of Private Enterprise estimated that cumulative economic losses in the first 25 days of protests reached approximately $1.7 billion, equivalent to 2.3% of the 2022 GDP. The Chamber of Commerce, Industries, and Agriculture of Panama estimated daily losses from road closures ranged from $60 million to $90 million.

Beyond the numbers, Mulino is not just facing a protest. He is facing a convergence of warnings.

Published in Spanish by La Prensa de Panamá and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.

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