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   Vol.65/No.38            October 8, 2001 
 
 
Unemployed in Panama demand jobs
(front page)
 
BY RÓGER CALERO  
Hundreds of unemployed workers protested for the third consecutive day in the northern city of Colón, Panama, September 18, demanding jobs and unemployment relief. The protests paralyzed schools and businesses in the port city, located on the Atlantic Ocean by the Panama Canal. The Free Trade Zone of Colón is one of the biggest and most important industrial complexes in the western hemisphere.

The government of Panama declared Colón a "zone of social emergency" September 10 and assigned a commission to find "alternatives" to the problems in the area. More than 7.1 percent of the population of the country lives in the zone. Unemployment has shot up to 23.2 percent, 10 points higher than that of the rest of the country.

Riot police with tear gas attacked unemployed workers on the second day of protests, after workers marched to meet with the zone operators. After the bosses failed to answer their demands for jobs, and facing the refusal of government officials to meet with their representatives, the unemployed workers blocked the streets around the industrial area. Police dispersed them with the use of force. Press reports indicate more than 200 people have been arrested and two people have been shot in the three days of protests. The government has issued a warrant for the arrest of the leaders of the coalition that organized the actions. A march and vigil was organized to demand the release of the five detained leaders.

Panamanian president Mireya Moscoso said in response that she will not "give away" checks to those that don't work for it. Vice President Arturo Vallarino blamed the unemployment problem in Colón on the lack of skilled labor, saying there are not enough bilingual people in the province. "They are not capable of maintaining a conversation in English," he stated.

Prospero Brown, a spokesperson for one of the organizations of the unemployed, told the Panamanian daily La Prensa that in the absence of concrete answers from the government, the unemployed are being forced to take to the streets to demand jobs.

In addition to the wave of protests by unemployed workers, 200 banana workers blocked the Pan-American highway near the city of David for nine hours before they were attacked by the police. The workers were demanding to be paid wages withheld for the last six months, payment of an end-of-the-year bonus, and vacations for 1,500 workers employed at four plantations.

The workers occupied the road in order to speed up negotiations with the owners of the plantations. Six hours later the bosses agreed to pay both the wages and bonuses.  
 
 
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