Panamanian Police Repress Protests Against Social Security Reforms
Protests in Panama City, April 28, 2025. Photo: EFE
April 29, 2025 Hour: 8:03 am
Citizens reject changes that will lead to poverty-level pensions.
On Monday, the Panamanian National Police harshly cracked down on citizens protesting against Law 462, which reforms the Social Security Fund, and against the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the United States.
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Riot control units of the police fired tear gas canisters directly at the faces of students who were gathered in front of the University of Panama. Journalists covering the events stated that the demonstrators were near the Transisthmian Highway and had not blocked the street when the brutal crackdown began.
“People were between the university bus stop and the street. There was no obstruction of traffic. The police headed toward the bus stop and fired pellets containing an irritant powder and then tear gas canisters,” the journalists stated, and reported protest in seven provinces across the country.
Unions and grassroots organizations oppose the social security reforms and the establishment of individual contribution accounts, arguing that these changes will enable the privatization of the institution and lead to poverty-level pensions.
In this context, citizens are demanding a return to a defined-benefit distribution model and a solidarity-based system. Protesters are also rejecting the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with the United States, which allows for the installation of military bases in Panama.
Previously, on April 23, public sector teachers’ unions began an indefinite strike against social security reform. On Monday, SUNTRACS, the country’s largest construction union, joined the indefinite strike.
SUNTRACS is protesting against social security reform, the government’s plans to negotiate with a Canadian company whose mining operation was blocked due to unconstitutionality, a controversial security agreement with the United States, and the construction of a new reservoir to feed the Panama Canal.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: EFE – La Estrella de Panama
