VZCZCXYZ0002
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHZP #0299/01 0992101
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 092101Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY PANAMA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3253
INFO RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

UNCLAS PANAMA 000299 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT OF STATE FOR DRL/ILCSR AND WHA/PPC 
DEPT OF LABOR FOR DOL/ILAB 
WHSR PASS TO USTR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB OTRA PGOV PHUM PM
SUBJECT: PANAMA:  TAKING IT TO THE STREETS 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1.  (U) Panamanians regularly take to the streets to protest 
a wide array of social and employment grievances.  These 
protests mire city residents, who already spend hours in 
traffic due to the outdated road network and poor transit 
system, in horrendous traffic jams for hours.  More often 
than not, these protests are successful as public officials 
respond with concessions.  Despite the inconvenience, these 
protests are a part of Panamanian life and widely accepted as 
a way to have one's grievances heard. 
 
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Getting things done the Panama way 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) Panamanian citizens enjoy a strong culture of freedom 
of expression in which they take to the streets on a weekly, 
sometimes daily basis, to protest.  The typical modus 
operandi for protestors is to block main transportation 
arteries during rush hour in order to call public attention 
to their grievances.  The refusal by the Panamanian National 
Police (PNP) to intervene, even by moving demonstrators to 
the sidewalk, ensures that even a group of 4-7 protestors can 
effectively hold the city's commuters hostage.  The 
near-constant disruption of an already overburdened 
transportation system results in paralysis of normal daily 
traffic in Panama City, where no more than five major 
arteries carry a majority of traffic flow and village-like 
traffic patterns that are squeezed by constant construction 
projects.  These roads do not allow a driver to easily "go 
around the block" to avoid congestion and alternate routes 
are non-existent.  A major source of daily irritation and 
frustration for Panamanians of all social classes is the 
dilapidated road and street system, which hangs by a thread 
and can be brought to a city-wide halt by three protesters. 
In Panama's interior, protestors use similar tactics to close 
down the Inter-American Highway or the Panama City-Colon 
Highway, creating traffic jams that extend for miles and take 
hours to clear up. 
 
¶3.  (U) Panamanians of all stripes protest on a wide variety 
of subjects.  Topics and groups can vary from senior citizens 
demanding an increase in their social security payments to a 
neighborhood group calling attention to poor water or 
electricity services in their area, to public employees such 
as teachers or firefighters demanding pay raises, to 
University of Panama students protesting against the cost of 
living or taking to the streets to support another 
organization's protest.  Police authorities do appear at the 
site of impromptu protests, but, terrified at the prospect of 
being hit with abuse of force charges and accusations, they 
do not intervene as long as the protest remains peaceful, 
confining their duties to the alteration of traffic patterns 
around the protest site, if possible. 
 
¶4.  (U) More often than not, protesters get what they want. 
Government agencies and officials always respond publicly to 
the concerns being aired by protesters, regardless of topic. 
Additionally, protesters almost always can count on a meeting 
with a government official to air their grievances and 
usually, but not always, receive the promise of some kind of 
financial benefit.  Some of the most common users of this 
model of social protest are public employees. 
 
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Legal Strikes 
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¶5.  (U) Labor law in Panama provides for a formal strike 
process that is overseen by the Ministry of Labor (MITRADEL). 
 The formal process requires employees to formally file 
grievances with MITRADEL, which oversees a 15-day 
conciliation period (with an option of two 10-day extensions) 
before a legal strike can begin.  In practice, this system is 
largely used by private companies and their unions to settle 
disputes about a collective bargaining agreement.  Public 
employees also have the right to utilize this process.  Their 
right is delineated in the Administrative Career Law, which 
states that "Public servants in general will have the right 
to: exercise the right to strike, in accordance with what is 
established in this law." (Article 135 of Law 9 of June 
1994).  However, in practice public employees do not use this 
legal method to settle grievances with their employers, 
instead preferring the more efficacious informal protest. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) According to statistics provided by MITRADEL, 25 
legal strikes were declared in 2007.  Of these, 21 were 
resolved by an accord between labor and management before the 
declared strike could take place.  Four strikes did take 
place, of these, three were in the construction sector 
(including a widely publicized strike between SUNTRACS union 
and Pillar Construction in Bocas del Toro) and one was in the 
commercial sector. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) In 2008, 113 strikes were declared, and six took 
place, according to Rudolfo Stanziola, Director of Labor at 
the Ministry of Labor (MITRADEL) in an April 8 interview. 
(COMMENT:  The large uptick in declared strikes can be 
attributed in Post's estimation to the worldwide inflation in 
food prices that took place in 2008 that eroded purchasing 
power of lower and middle class individuals worldwide.) 
 
------------------------ 
Taking it to the Streets 
------------------------ 
 
¶8.  (U) Described below is a sample of the public protest 
actions undertaken by groups with issues of concern in Panama 
in 2008-2009.  (NOTE:  The word "strike" as used in the 
following paragraphs should not be understood describe a 
legal process or status, as most, if not all, of these 
"strikes" are not legal under Panamanian law.  However, the 
word is widely used to describe a situation where employees 
stop working and/or publicly protest.) 
 
January 2009:  A strike was called by the National 
Association of Administrative Officials of the Social 
Security Fund (ANFACSS), who demanded from their employer, 
the Social Security Fund (Caja de Seguro Social -- CSS) a 
$300 productivity raise for all administrative employees, 
plus a $75 monthly raise.  The strike lasted 10 days, in 
which the two groups publicly and privately made offers and 
counteroffers.  CSS administrators finally agreed to a $60 
monthly salary raise beginning in June 2009 and an annual 
$200 productivity bonus. 
 
March 2009:  A hunger strike was announced among inmates at 
the Public Prison in Chorrera protesting food quality, lack 
of medical attention and overcrowding.  After one day, 
penitentiary officials agreed to address concerns of inmates. 
 
March 2009:  There were several protests at schools in 
Chiriqui and Cocle provinces on the first day of school by 
teachers demanding that school buildings be repaired 
immediately.  In Colon, the Technical and Professional 
Institute teachers did not give classes to protest building 
conditions and the lack of equipment.  Their protest lasted 
three days, after which they reached an agreement with 
provincial and education ministry officials.  Also, Education 
Minister Castro agreed to meet with them in March to discuss 
their concerns. 
 
Fall/Winter 2008:  Throughout the fall and winter of 2008, 
protests were held weekly, sometimes daily, to demand the 
prosecution and removal from government of the then-Minister 
of Government and Justice.  A series of investigative reports 
in the daily newspaper "La Prensa" accused the Minister of 
perpetrating a number of crimes during the military 
dictatorship, including the murder of a subordinate.  In 
December, the attorney general charged the Minister with 
homicide, and shortly thereafter he was replaced by the 
President. 
 
November/December 2007:  More than 3,000 physicians (public 
employees) who were represented by the National Negotiating 
Medical Commission (COMENAL) struck for 39 days, demanding a 
60% pay increase and a stop to any plans to privatize the 
health care system.  Their employer, the CSS, eventually 
agreed to a 23% pay increase plus a productivity bonus that 
will be paid twice per year.  In return, physicians agreed to 
make plans to recover thousands of medical appointments lost 
during the strike.  CSS also assured the doctors that "the 
door remains closed" to privatization. 
 
April 2008:  Chilibre community residents closed the 
Boyd-Roosevelt Highway for several hours in one day to 
protest the fact that they had lacked drinking water for two 
weeks. National Aqueduct and Sewer System (IDAAN) officials 
explained that the reason for lack of water was that 
pipelines were being repaired, and agreed to bring water 
trucks to the area until repairs were completed. 
 
June 2008: A two-day, partial public transportation strike 
took place as bus owners and drivers demanded that the 
government increase their fuel subsidy and end the 
"Transmovil" transportation modernization project.  Taxi 
drivers organized a caravan to the Presidential palace to 
demonstrate their concerns as well.  University of Panama 
students in Panama City closed a major transportation artery 
for several hours to support the strike.  In some areas, 
buses were forcibly stopped and passengers forced to 
disembark.  Strikers set fire to tires on the roads.  As a 
result, the Minister of Commerce and Industry announced that 
the government would increase the diesel fuel subsidy for the 
transportation sector to help it cope with rising prices. 
 
July 2008: More than 650 guards at penitentiaries nationwide 
(Tinajitas, La Joyita, the Colon Public Jail, most of the 
guards at the women's jail, some at El Renacer, the Nueva 
Esperanza Minors Custody Center and the La Chorrera Public 
Jail) conducted a "hands down strike," demanding an increase 
in wages, increased security, a solution to personnel 
shortages as well as an increase in the quality of food and 
sanitation at the jails. Penitentiary System Director Luis 
Gordon reacted by admitting that there was a problem, and 
that his administration was promoting salary increases.  He 
also asked the Finance Ministry for a special loan to deal 
with these issues and to hire more guards. 
 
September 2008:  More than 30 organizations from a variety of 
sectors (transportation, education, health workers, 
physicians construction workers and university students, 
among others) participated in one-day a nationwide strike on 
September 4.  The strike, which was organized by the National 
Front for the Defense of Social Rights (FRENADESO) demanded a 
general salary increase, a freezing of the basic food basket 
prices, lower fuel prices and to express objection with 
proposals to privatize the health sector, in addition to 
other more parochial concerns.  In response, the  Vice 
President claimed that the government was already taking 
corrective measures to address the stated concerns.  He 
pointed out that during the Torrijos administration, 
employment had dropped to 6.7% and more than 80,000 new jobs 
had been created.  He also noted that the Torrijos government 
had introduced the Compita program, which provides basic 
staple foods at low or no cost.  Anticipation of the general 
strike was high, but as large numbers of Panamanian families 
chose to stay home, many businesses closed for the day and 
some government offices were closed, the impact was minimal. 
The coordinating organizations declared the strike a success. 
 
April 2009:  Workers for Estrella Azul (milk producers) 
struck for 8 days and received a salary increase of 35 cents 
per hour over the next 4 years. 
 
February 2009:  Physicians, dentists, nurses and paramedics 
employed by the Penal System suspended at the last minute a 
planned strike after reaching an accord with their employer, 
the Ministry of Government and Justice, whoagreed to improve 
working conditions, increase the medical budget and recognize 
a new salary scale. 
STEPHENSON