After the protests against mining reform in the Mining Code, the government of Ricardo Martinelli will retake dialogues this Wednesday with the Coordinator for the Defense of Natural Resources and the Rights of the Ngöbe Buglé Peoples.
The president of Panama, Ricardo Martinelli, promised that the new Mining Code will not affect the territories of indigenous communities.
This is a change form the previous reform, that had established that foreign states could extract minerals in Panama, paying only a 5 percent in royalties on the production of copper, copper, gold and silver. Indigenous communities had mobilized to reject this reform. After a month of conflict, the president repealed the change in the code and convoked a round table discussion on the topic.
This Wednesday the governmental authorities and the Coordinator will take up discussions on a new mining reform.
Indigenous organizations have accused the government of trying to delay talks, and announced they will continue to put pressure on the government during dialogues.
Source: Agencia Púlsar
See original article in Spanish on www.noalamina.org
