The Ngöbe people issued an urgent appeal for solidarity from the international community yesterday after Panama police forces launched a violent attack on protesters, killing at least one person and injuring many more. Ngöbe protesters have blockaded the Pan-American highway since last Monday in opposition to a proposed mining law that would open their traditional lands to mining and hydroelectric development.
Police presence remains heavy in Indigenous territories of Western Panama, including Vigui, San Felix, Horconcitos, Chiriqui Grande, and tensions are rising in the Bocas del Toro areas of Guabito and Chaguinola, where police intervention was expected to surge Monday. The national police denied the use of weapons this morning via their Twitter account, but photos taken at San Felix protests show otherwise.
The government has interrupted all cell phone communication starting the evening of Friday, February 3, but increasing numbers of Ngöbe men, women, and children are rising in solidarity against the excessive use of police force and the struggle for self-determination within their territory.
Ngöbe leaders are asking international citizens to send letters and emails to President Ricardo Martinelli, demanding a halt to the use of lethal force against Ngöbe protestors and a special investigation of Panama’s Minister of Security, José Raúl Mulino, and the head of the National Police, Gustavo Perez, for human rights violations. These officials were also implicated in the death of Ngöbe labor leaders Antonio Smith and Virgilio Castillo in Changuinola in July 2010.
Photo by Radio Temblor
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Ricardo Martinelli Berrocal, Presidente
Presidencia de la República,
Panamá 1, República de Panamá
Tel: +(507) 527-9600
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Email: prensa@presidencia.gob.pa
See the following pages for more information (Spanish only):
http://otramerica.com/radar/martinelli-desata-el-caos-en-panama/1477
https://www.facebook.com/1193338164
http://www.radiotemblor.org/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GSYqhR6AaUQ
