Panama City, Aug 8 (RHC) After 15 hours of negotiations, the Panamanian government gave in to the demands of the indigenous people of the Ngäbe Bugle region, who on Tuesday opened the Inter-American Highway.
The agreement was reached in the town of Hato Corotú, in the western province of Chiriquí, after the Executive's commission headed by the Minister of Government, Roger Tejada, committed to disburse up to 150 million dollars and to conclude infrastructure works, especially roads.
The delegation, which also included the Minister of Public Works, Rafael Sabonge, tried to explain that a declaration of a state of emergency by the Cabinet Council authorized the allocation of some US$ 7 million, to which the natives responded that it was not enough.
After the consensus, the leaders of the communities consulted with their bases on the key points of the text, among which stands out the approval of its content this Tuesday in the meeting of the ministers with the President of the Republic, Laurentjno Cortizo; and tomorrow to follow it up in another meeting in the region.
The Panamerican highway was closed since 11:30 local time on August 7 and even the agents of the crowd control unit intervened in Horconcitos, but they did not manage to reopen the road.
The previous day, the closure of the main artery linking the isthmus with Central America and through which food supplies and international commercial cargo arriving through the Panama Canal transit, covered seven points.
According to one of the spokespersons of the protesters, Aquilino Mendoza, the Executive has been signing agreements for a long time and then failing to comply with them, especially in relation to the construction of roads in their towns on the border with Costa Rica. Early this morning, the important artery was reopened to traffic in the sector of San Juan and then at the height of the town of Horconcitos, at the entrance to Boca del Monte.
The spokesman of the indigenous people, Joel Franceschi, apologized for the closures of the Interamerican highway, but assured that the population was very unhappy and now expects that the agreements reached with the Government will be fulfilled.
Analysts recalled that in July 2022, the natives also blocked this highway in protest for the high costs of the basic family food basket, fuel and medicines, a pressure measure that left carriers and travelers stranded for almost a month, besides causing substantial economic losses, until the Government set up a dialogue table to solve the crisis. (Source: PL)
