Panamanian Police Repress Protest Against Social Security Privatization
Protests in Panama, March 21, 2025. X/ @ClaridadPanama1
March 21, 2025 Hour: 1:32 pm
Law 462 will allow economic and political elites to carry out ‘the robbery of the century.’
On Friday, the Panamanian police brutally repressed citizens who were protesting against the enactment of Law 462, which initiates a privatization process for the Social Security Fund (CSS).
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Riot control officers arrested union leader Alberto Diaz, who was alongside members of the Unionist Movement of Educators of the Republic of Panama (ASOMOGRERP) and the Single National Union of Construction and Similar Industry Workers (SUNTRACS).
Teachers and workers denounced that the social security reforms would allow economic and political elites to carry out “the robbery of the century.”
The citizens were peacefully distributing flyers in the Cuatro Altos area, in the province of Colon, when police officers arrived, targeted Diaz, threw him to the ground, and arrested him. Security forces also detained SUNTRACS member Manuel Valencia and other workers.
To justify their actions, the police claimed that their intervention was necessary to keep the roads clear and ensure the right to free movement. They also threatened that they would not tolerate any “disturbances of order.”
Images shared on social media show several women who were injured by the police while trying to prevent Diaz’s arrest.
The social security reforms were recently approved by Parliament and enacted by President Jose Mulino on Wednesday. Law 462 increases the retirement age by three years and allows workers’ funds to be handed over to banks and pension management companies.
Panamanian unions argue that the privatization of pensions will condemn many retirees to live in poverty and put the future of upcoming generations at risk.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: SUNTRACS – teleSUR
