PANAMA CITY — Facing a second week of impassioned, nationwide protests, Panama's National Assembly has nearly passed a new law revoking a controversial mining contract in an environmentally vulnerable part of country.
Before legislators debated the extraordinary measure, Cortizo first proposed a national referendum on the contract. Eight lawsuits were also filed with Panama's Supreme Court arguing it was unconstitutional. While legislators argued, anti-riot police dispersed demonstrators around the Assembly building with rubber-bullet and tear gas. Earlier in the day nurses marched to the Supreme Court building to demand judges prioritize the constitutionality lawsuits.The contract would allow 20-40 more years of open pit copper mining across 13,000 hectares of forested land just 75 miles west of the capital, in the state of Colon.
While Minera Panama’s manager insisted in a September open letter that four rivers lie between the mine and the canal, the canal's administrator expressed concern earlier this year that their water sources might conflict.‘Who Wants To Tell Him?’: Trump Mocked Over Baffling ‘Great Country’ Announcement
"That's 17,000 soldiers you didn't have to blow up on the battlefield or destroy," the head of US Army Special Operations Command said in October.My wife typically enjoys following Trump scandals. Like most American women, she’s not a fan of the 45th President. But she drew a blank when I asked her what she thought about Trump’s civil trial in Manhattan, where he’s accused of misleading lenders and insurers by fraudulently inflating his net worth by as much as $3.