Free Republic

It's been almost two weeks since protests began in Panama aimed at the high cost of everything from food to fuel to medicine. Teachers went on strike at first but other trade unions joined in leading to crowds on streets and highways with roads blocked including the key Panamerican Highway running through the middle of the Isthmus. Last weekend it appeared that labor union leaders and the government were cutting a deal to end the protests that were impacting the movement of food to Panama City where much of the country's population lives. The deal would have cut prices some...

The Pan-American highway was cleared after heavy clashes between crowd control units and protesters keeping the highway closed. The National Police (PN) reopened the Pan-American highway on Tuesday, on the Santiago bridge, Veraguas province, to guarantee movement of the humanitarian corridor to the capital. The road was cleared after heavy clashes between crowd control units and protesters who have kept the road closed for more than two weeks. The demonstrators confronted the police units with stones. The police fired tear gas, managing to clear the road. Once the road was cleared, the circulation of trucks with supplies and food began...