On Wednesday, 11/29/23, the Supreme Court of Panama declared the mining contract unconstitutional!!
The mining contract was at the center of the protests we’d been experiencing since our arrival in Panama. As the decision was broadcast, protesters danced in the street in from of the courthouse, waving the red, white and blue Panamanian flag and singing the national anthem. The ruling was published in the Official Gazette on December 2nd and roads all over Panama, including those that had been blocked for the last 41 days, were finally reopened.
On Monday, Boquete (and I’m sure many other areas) celebrated with parades. The video was taken by one of my neighbors. This was just one of many bands in the parade that lasted hours.
Panama’s President, Laurentino Cortizo, approved on Friday, October 20, 2023, amid protests, a new contract with the Canadian company First Quantum Minerals for the operation in the country of the largest mine in Central America.
The approval came amid protests against a contract that allows the mining company to operate in Panama for 20 years, extendable by another 20 years. Access routes to Panama City were intermittently blocked on Friday, with burning tires and marches.
Anger and frustration at the government have escalated the protests, which are happening across the entire nation. The PanAmerican highway, the major (and often only) route across the country has been blocked in numerous areas, often 24/7. The citizens are fighting for control of their land and want the mining contract declared unconstitutional by the highest courts in Panama.
The attached YouTube video provides a good overview of the crisis gripping the nation.
On October 23, 2023, we packed our 4 huge duffels, 2 small carry-ons and our individual back packs into my son’s car and headed to the airport to start the journey to our new country. This was the culmination of almost 1.5 years of discussions, research and planning. We already had our temporary visas for Panama as well as an apartment to move into. Excited? You bet! Nervous? Of course! We’d traveled and vacationed in the country twice prior to our move. It still felt unreal.
obligatory plane picture
Our journey took us from Nashville, TN to Miami, Florida on Southwest Airlines. I was still enjoying a year of having a companion pass, where Pete basically flew for free. We took advantage of this to get to an airport where we could pick up Copa Airlines. From Miami, we flew on Copa Airlines into Panama City, Panama, arriving after 8PM. By the time we had passed through immigration (which btw, was the easiest ever, as we were able to use our Panamanian Visa), picked up our luggage and called for Uber, it was well past 9PM.
We were seeing reports throughout our day of travel about protests starting in Panama over a mining contract the President had signed on the previous Friday (October 20th). The protests were causing streets to be blocked in areas all over the country. Although we already had a hotel booked in downtown Panama City, we had actually discussed whether or not it would be better to just stay by the airport, as we weren’t sure if we’d have difficulty getting into the city. Ultimately, we decided we’d keep to the original plan unless we were forced to make a change.
Our Uber driver had no problems getting to our hotel. Thankfully, we saw no protests and arrived tired, after a very long day of 12+ hours of travel. And while Panama City wasn’t our final destination, we planned to spend a few days in the city, start the process to get our driver’s license with the US Embassy, visit immigration to pick up our 2-year temporary visa and do a bit of sight-seeing. Little did we know how much the protests would impact all of our plans.
