Panama president pushes back against Canadian copper mine protests

By AFP
Published October 24, 2023

Demonstrators and police clashed Tuesday in Panama as protests over a copper mine spilled into their fifth day, with President Laurentino Cortizo vowing he would prosecute acts of “vandalism.”

The protesters are concerned about potential environmental damage from operations at the mine owned by First Quantum, a Canadian firm and one of the biggest copper extractors in the world.

After protests erupted on Friday and continued over the weekend, demonstrators had yet to let up by Tuesday in Panama City and in other provinces.

They blocked several roads as they demanded the repeal of the contract allowing continued operations at the site, the largest copper mine in Central America.

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