Panama City (AP) – Panama suspended constitutional defenses for five days in its northwestern province Bocas del Toro on Friday after two protest And road blockades returned more devastating last night.

Presidential Minister Juan Carlos Orillac said at a press conference that the measure would allow the government to restore the order and “save the province” from “radical groups”.

What began as a nationwide protest against changes in the social security system were taken on Thursday night in people damage the local airport and the facilities of the Bananas giant Chiquita Brands, which fired thousands of striking workers in the province last month.

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino He had said at the time that the banana workers’ strike was illegal and included about 5,000 workers.

On May 27, the government declared a state of emergency in the province without suspending constitutional defense.

But actions by the masked people the authorities described as criminals overnight made Mulino announce on Thursday night that he would meet his cabinet on Friday to take action. The authors forced their way to the airport in Changuinola, the main city of Bocas del Toro, where they vandalized cars and started a fire at the local baseball stadium. They dismissed the closed chiquita facility and destroyed a local office of the National Civil Protection Service.

Protests, marches and random barriers are extended from one end of the place to the other As a teacher, construction workers and other unions opposed the changes, the government said they were needed to keep the social security system solvent.

The demonstrations have occasionally become violent, but the forced entry of people to the airport and the banana facility overnight caused Friday’s government’s reaction.

At the beginning of this month, Mulino brought a Catholic archbishop and a rabbi to act as a mediator with the protesters.

Last week, the Panama Congress adopted a new law on the banana sector that was part of an agreement to end the strike by protecting the benefits of workers such as medical assistance and labor protection under the new social security regime.

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