Panama: Protester killed, 100 people hurt in clash between striking banana workers and police

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Panama: Protester killed, 100 people hurt in clash between striking banana workers and police
By Associated Press
11:51 p.m. EDT, July 8, 2010



An unidentified man is aid after being injured during
clashes with police in Changuinola, western Panama,
Thursday, July 8, 2010. One man died and dozens were
injured as banana union workers clashed with police
during a protest to repeal recently tax laws. (AP Photo)
(AP / July 8, 2010)

CITY (AP) — Striking banana plantation workers and police clashed in western Panama on Thursday, leaving one man dead and 100 people hurt.

Eighteen of the injured in Bocas del Toro province, on the border with Costa Rica, were in critical condition, the national emergency agency said in a statement.

The National Front for the Defense of Economic and Social Rights, a non-governmental labor umbrella group, identified the dead man as banana union leader Antonio Smith.

Striking banana plantation workers began protesting last week against a new law that critics say weakens unions.

Read more: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-lt-panama-banana-protest,0,7671693.story

[rabs]

1. The AP story neglects to mention (no surprise)

That the strikers work at the Bocas Fruit Company, a subsidiary of Chiquita. About 4,500 banana plantation workers are striking.

U.S. citizens in the area have been warned to stay off the roads.


Edit to add:

-- Two strikers now reported dead.

-- 20 roads leading to Bocas del Toro are permanently blocked, electricity and water services have been cut, there is a shortage of food and gasoline in the entire province. The strike began five days ago.

-- The strike began with the banana workers, but teachers, construction workers and indigenous groups have joined the stoppage.

-- In the province of Colon, workers improving the Panama Canal have been on strike since Saturday.

-- The new president Martinelli called an emergency Cabinet meeting and sent one of his top aides to Bocas del Toro to try to defuse the situation. On Thursday night there were new clashes.

[Judi Lynn]

2. This is bad. You don't expect people who are striking for better conditions

in the slave level jobs they have with the corporately owned plantations to be harmed physically for striking, nor lose access to electricity and fuel, and food because of it. This sounds very similar to the way things were when the same corporation had the President of Guatemala overthrown when he attempted to improve life for the desperately poor in 1954.

That story by AP would look a lot different with the FACTS left in it! Thank you so much for this important alert.

[Blue_Tires]

18. +1

[truth2power]

11. Ah, yes...Chiquita..

I have the "honor" of living in the same city as Carl Lindner, former CEO of Chiquita Brands. A bottom-feeder if I ever saw one, even though his name is on numerous buildings around town.

I remember when the Trans Atlantic Business Dialogue was meeting here in 2000. The Cincinnati Police, in riot gear, were at pains to protect the worthless hides of Mr. Lindner and his ilk from a bunch of old people and a nun. Sorry, that still sticks in my craw.

Chiquita was (and probably still is) a contributor to terrorist organizations in Latin America.

Here are a couple of sources I dug up, on the fly:

CHIQUITA BOARD MEMBERS: TOTAL IDENTIFICATION
http://www.colectivodeabogados.org/CHIQUITA-BOARD-MEMBERS-TOTAL

The Department of Justice, Corporations, Buying the Law – Part II: Strange Bargains
http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/07/21/buying-the-law/

[Judi Lynn]

16. You've posted some excellent information. I've scanned it, will return to read it.

That's a real drawback knowing Carl Lindner slimes your city. It gives you so much to overcome, being Ihost city to a vicious parasite like him.

I have read that George H. W. Bush was a major stockholder in the company years ago, and of course we know the Secretary of State and the head of the well for them all these many years. I mean, who's big enough to stop them, anyway? Anyone big they already bought. One of their attorneys during Chiquita's fairly recent legal troubles over connections to Colombian paramilitaries is President Obama's Attorney General.

It all just gets wierder and wierder, and the threats have NEVER abated, they've just been shift around.

There was zero publicity, apparently, of the heavily armed presence around the always characteristically peaceful human rights supporters during the Trans Atlantic Business Dialogue. That totally figures.

[era veteran]

3. Of all the Central American countries, Panama 'should' be

better than this. The fruit companies have influenced too much too long. I wonder what this is about; "U.S. citizens in the area have been warned to stay off the roads." //// Any links appreciated.

[Judi Lynn]

6. rabs reads the Spanish language papers from Latin America and translates them.

He'll probably get a link for you but it would be in Spanish!

He also listens to Spanish and Portuguese radio, tv., etc. and shares that info. as well.

[Judi Lynn]

8. I'll be keeping a lookout. Here's a new, very brief one:

Panama imposes curfew in southern city over violent banana workers strike
17:32, July 09, 2010

The Panamanian government imposed a curfew in the western city of Changuinola Thursday night after one person was killed and over 100 others injured when striking banana workers clashed with riot police.

http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90852/7060100.html

~~~~~
Reuters:
One dead as Panama labor unrest erupts
Thu Jul 8, 2010 5:43pm EDT

PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Protests by striking banana plantation workers and Panama Canal builders left one man dead in clashes with police and dozens injured on Thursday as labor unrest erupted in Panama, authorities said.
At least one man died as riot police firing tear-gas battled banana plantation workers in western Panama who had blocked roads in a strike near the town of Changuinola. The labor stoppage began last week to protest a new law that weakens unions.

Hospital authorities in Changuinola said 54 people were treated for injuries following the clashes.

In a separate incident, 48 striking workers on a $5.25 billion project to widen and deepen the Panama Canal were fired and at least six were arrested after refusing to return to work, said Luis Ernesto Carles, a deputy minister of labor.

The unrest follows a bill signed by President Ricardo Martinelli last month that dents union power and gives companies the right to suspend the contracts of striking workers and hire replacements.

More:
http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCATRE6675TG20100708

~~~~~
One Dead in Panama Protests

PANAMA – One person was killed, more than 100 others injured and dozens arrested in clashes between demonstrators and police in the western Panamanian city of Changuinola, authorities said Thursday.

The confrontations began early on Thursday after the city’s main streets were blocked off by workers for the Bocas Fruit Company, who are protesting against new government measures that restrict protests and the right to strike.

Police spokesman Jairo Polo told Efe that the dead man was identified as Antonio Smith, 30, a leader of the banana workers union, but he did not provide any details regarding the circumstances of his death.

Sources at the office of President Ricardo Martinelli said he called an emergency Cabinet meeting and sent his chief of staff, Demetrio Papadimitriu, to Changuinola, to speak with the protesters.

Channel 2 television reported that the city is almost out of food and lacks supplies at the regional hospital after seven days of demonstrations that were begun originally because the Bocas Fruit Company didn’t pay its workers.

Operations at the Manuel Niño airport have also been affected with demonstrators stoning the facility along with other buildings, the TV channel reported.

The workers are protesting against a law recently approved by the government that allows punishment of up to two years in prison for people found guilty of blocking streets during demonstrations and another one limiting the exercise of the right to strike, as well as modifying other labor regulations. EFE

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=360036&CategoryId=14088

~~~~~
One dead 300 injured in battles between police and striking banana workers .
Thursday, 08 July 2010 23:42 . A warning has been issued to American citizens to keep off the roads in Bocas del Toro where battles between police and striking banana workers have led to at least 300 injuries and one death.
The riots, originally ignited by protests over the new 9 in one law were restarted on Thursday night, hours after The Minister of the Presidency, Jimmy Papadimitriu had said that he recognized that the employers had committed errors.
Late last night, after meetings with the workers’ to try to reduce tempers he asked residents of Changuinola to stay at home.
In the afternoon dozens of injured were taken to hospital after disturbances between workers and riot police..
The workers, members of the Banana Industry Union at the Bocas Fruit Company, protested a week ago against the recently passed Law 30 (9 in 1) that introduced reforms to the Labor Code.

Tthe new law changed the right to strike of workers and the compulsory discounting of union dues was eliminated
Papadimitriu, claimed that "evildoers" are trying to take advantage of the situation.

http://www.newsroompanama.com/panama/1393-one-dead-300-injured-in-battles-between-police-and-striking-banana-workers.html

EVILDOERS, by now. Well, well, well.
http://www.allhatnocattle.net.nyud.net:8090/BushFrown.jpg

[Cal Carpenter]

13. There's a lot more than fruit growers to this picture

Like much of the region, this little country has been meddled with for decades by global efforts to maximize trade in the region - whether it's growing bananas and coffee and palm oil for export, or to create a viable path for ships to move goods between China and the US east coast, Europe and the US west coast, etc...

With all the weight of global capital and all of the governments and banks along with it, it's no wonder that the labor laws are worthless and conditions for the working class are miserable.

How can this small population compete with the US, Europe, China, the IMF, the World Bank, and all the corporations?

Right now there are lots of labor strikes and uprisings in Panama, although news is hard to find. The canal expansion efforts are another area..here's about the only website I can find that posts regular updates of what's happening there form anything other than a pro-western, 'development' perspective:

http://www.bananamarepublic.com/

[Judi Lynn]

14. Thank you for posting this resource. It looks completely worthwhile.

I'm going to look through it today as time permits, so very glad to see it. Also glad to note it's clever name is so easy to remember.

Sure wish MORE U.S. Americans were tuned into what kind of true spiritual, and bloody war has been raging in Latin America all this time, and why it's actually important to the people whose tax dollars have been bankrolling it. They should be curious enough to learn whether their own resources are being used to support the side of the good or NOT.

[dipsydoodle]

4. Time to recap on the past

International Federation of Free Trade Unions and International Union of Food and Agricultural Workers (ICFTU-IUF) has issued a statement on "The Forgotten Victims of the Banana War".
* Relocation has been threatened in Honduras by the other banana giant, Chiquita, which last February gave the banana workers' union an ultimatum, saying it would leave the country if workers refused to sign a new collective agreement in which some of the guarantees secured previously by their union had been removed. The international trade union pressure exerted by the IUF did serve to re-open negotiations however, although packers, mainly women, were informed that they could not expect their jobs back before the end of 1999.
* In Costa Rica, the banana producers took advantage of the wave of migrations following Hurricane Mitch to hire Nicaraguan and Honduran workers on their plantations. Hundreds of thousands of refugees, mainly "illegal", had no other choice than to accept insecure jobs and exploitative conditions, notes the ICFTU. A coalition of producers, members of the government and the Church is about to secure legal recognition from parliament for the solidarista organisations. These pro-employer organisations are virtually waging war on the trade union movement in Costa Rica, in their efforts to replace it. According to the ICFTU, despite the International Labour Organisation's repeated condemnation of the solidarista movement as an attack on the right to form trade unions, the Costa Rican parliament is preparing to open a debate on April 1 which could lead to its official recognition. IUF affiliates also report fresh attempts to set up solidarista organisations in Guatemala where the trade unions have previously been able to resist the spread of this form of anti-trade unionism.
* In Panama police raided a plantation last January belonging to a subsidiary of Chiquita. Workers were ordered to produce their identity papers and six of them were taken away and beaten up. The Armuelles Fruit Company, a Chiquita subsidiary, was the subject of a complaint to the Labour Ministry about the unfair dismissals of 28 workers last December. The Armuelles Fruit Company is well- known to the labour inspectors, having been fined several times for refusing to cooperate with them. One of the charges against it concerns the death of a worker, a case which has yet to be clarified.

[Judi Lynn]

9. This is some excellent information, dipsydoodle. Wow.

These guys are damned vicious, aren't they? They've had decades and decades of practise, too.

Simply unbelievable human beings can be this low in trying to keep the poor of the earth desperately poor, living in squalor, suffering, with no relief in sight for the rest of their lives.

[Downwinder]

5. This have anything to do with the troops being sent to Costa Rica?

[Judi Lynn]

7. You never know! That bit of news startled me, too, in the last few days.

It's something most people would have NEVER been expecting to read. Damned wierd, and unsettling.

Things worked out so well when the US sent the Marines down to overthrow Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala in 1954, and George H. W. Bush sent in forces to kill Panamanians in the poor parts of town during his one term, and all the other painful meddling.

There's online access to The Panama Deception for anyone who hasn't seen the Academy Award Winning best documentary feature narrated by Elizabeth Montgomery covering this Bush invasion of Panama, and what we were NOT told at the time:

The Panama Deception is a controversial documentary film that won the 1992 Academy Award for Documentary Feature. The film is critical of the actions of the US military during the 1989 invasion of Panama by the United States, covering the conflicting reasons for the invasion and the depicting of the US media as biased.
One of the many allegations made by the film is that the United States tested some form of laser or energy weapon during the invasion. The film also includes footage of mass graves uncovered after the US troops had withdrawn, and depicts some of the 20,000 refugees who fled the invasion.

The Panama Deception documents the untold story of the December 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama; the events which led to it; the excessive force used; the enormity of the death and destruction; and the devastating aftermath. The Panama Deception uncovers the real reasons for this internationally condemned attack, presenting a view of the invasion which widely differs from that portrayed by the U.S. media and exposes how the U.S. government and the mainstream media suppressed information about this foreign policy disaster.

The Panama Deception includes never before seen footage of the invasion and its aftermath, as well as interviews with both invasion proponents and opponents. Network news clips and media critics contribute to a staggering analysis of media control and self censorship relevant to any news coverage today, particularly during times of war.

http://freedocumentaries.org/int.php?filmID=145

Or:

The Panama Deception
Military and War 3 Comments Years before the US went after Saddam Hussein, the White House had Manuel Noriega, another former ally, in its sights. In their Oscar-winning documentary, director Barbara Trent and writer/editor David Kasper (Cover Up: Behind the Iran Contra Affair) contrast media coverage of the 1989 invasion with expert testimony. The filmmakers backtrack to America’s turn-of-the-century takeover of the Panama Canal–and volatile aftermath–before flashing forward to the reform-minded Carter era. When the CIA-supported Noriega comes to power, reform gives way to repression, and Reagan calls for the dictator’s ouster. His successor, Bush, brings in the troops. It would be one thing if they only targeted military facilities, but witnesses claim soldiers also fired on civilians and residential property (a Pentagon spokesman denies the accusation). Depending on the source, casualties ranged from 250 to 4,000. Narrated by Elizabeth Montgomery, Panama Deception was shot on video–and looks it–but content is king.

Watch the full documentary now

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-panama-deception/

[Judi Lynn]

10. "Costa Rica invites US military to combat drug trade"

Costa Rica invites US military to combat drug trade
Published 09 July, 2010, 04:03

The government of Costa Rica has approved a measure to bring in 46 US warships and 7,000 troops to aid in the fight against drug trafficking.

In 1999, a previous agreement allowed US Coast Guard vessels into Costa Rica. The new agreement, however, brings in warships, helicopters and US Marines.

“Neither the Costa Rican government nor the US government through the ambassador or embassy has really told us what this is all about and what the mission is or what the deployment is. Ultimately it just smacks of something that we don’t know, it’s the unknown and that’s the unknown that is causing a great deal of confusion in anger here in Costa Rica,” said John Holtz in Costa Rica, who is the executive director of the Center for the Studies of Modern Management.

Costa Rica is dependent on its neighbors for military aid. The Latin American nation has no army or military of its own. In the past, it brought in help from Venezuela. However, with relations with Venezuela in decline, the US seemed the next best option.

“They’re sending down just a massive amount of military. It’s sort of like dropping the atomic bomb on a group of ants,” said Holtz.

More:
http://rt.com/Top_News/2010-07-09/costa-rica-us-military.html

[Judi Lynn]

19. Costa Rican Govt Approves US Occupation

Article posted Jul 09 2010, 8:09 PM

Costa Rican Govt Approves US Occupation
Thousands of US Troops to 'Fight Drugs'

In another example of the growing militarization of the war on drugs, the Costa Rican government has given the US permission to launch an invasion of up to 7,000 Marines, ostensibly to “fight drugs.”

The vote was extremely controversial in Costa Rica’s legislature, with several MPs arguing that it gave he US a “blank check” to occupy the nation and was a threat to its sovereignty. Costa Rica has had no military of its own since its abolition in 1948.

Preceded by decades of on-again, off-again violence, the lack of a military has actually served the nation quite well over the past 62 years, and Costa Rica is one of the few nations in Central America not to face any violent uprisings or brutal dictatorships. The nation even celerates a holiday, on December 1, called Military Abolition Day.

Indeed, it appears that the only reason the nation is in America’s sights at all is because it is geographically so narrow, and an occupation of it could provide a convenient choke-point for blocking drugs from South America reaching Mexico and eventually, the United States, by land.

More:
http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=31218

[Cal Carpenter]

12. Workers fighting back in Panama - more about the banana strike and canal workers too here:

Police assassinates protesters, more journalists arrested, orders to capture labor leaders in Panama war zone

http://www.bananamarepublic.com/?p=1097

La Prensa reports one, but sources close to the events say four five protesters have been killed and tens wounded by the police in Bocas del Toro. The protests, by banana plantation workers and other labor organizations, have been going on for days and are held against the infamous “chorizo law”. Minister of the presidency Papademente is said to travel to Bocas, and the cabinet is currently holding an emergency session.

The exact law that the protests are held against gives the police immunity in case they commit crimes.

According to La Estrella, the police is trying to capture the entire leadership of labor union SUNTRACS, for “attacking the honor of president Martinelli”.

Yesterday, a photographer for El Panama America was detained for 6 hours because he took pictures of policemen guarding the Canal expansion project. He was stripped naked, handcuffed, and locked up for hours with various people being held at the police station in Veracruz.

The strike at the Canal expansion project reveals that the law 30, better known as the “chorizo law”, is being used by the labor unions to break open existing contracts and agreements. They argue that, if one contractual point is no longer valid, the whole contract needs to be renegotiated. This is a smart and effective tactic, because at projects like the Canal expansion the corporations can’t change the protesting workforce overnight – not enough qualified workers are available.

Meanwhile, the authorities are distributing version three or four of an “explanation” for detaining La Prensa columnist and Spanish journalist Paco Gomez Nadal at the airport and prohibiting him from leaving the country. After first pointing at imaginary tax problems the scribent would have, then changing the narrative about him being able to leave or return, they now maintain that the journalist doesn’t have a valid work permit.


more...

http://www.bananamarepublic.com/?p=1097

[Doctor_J]

15. Encouraging to see that peasants are fighting back SOWEWHERE

maybe it will spread to the US

[Judi Lynn]

17. University students, workers protest in Panama to back nationwide strike

University students, workers protest in Panama to back nationwide strike
14:46, July 13, 2010

Students and workers from the University of Panama (UP) demonstrated on Monday in Panama City to support the nationwide strike.

Damian Espino, general secretary of the UP Employees Association, said the protest was aimed to support the national strike, called by union groups in protest of the controversial Law 30.

The law restricts the right of workers to strike and limits the right to join trade unions, he said.

The protests, organized by the banana workers' union, turned violent last week in Bocas del Toro province, leaving two protestors dead and more than 200 injured.

The students and workers expressed their opposition to the government's actions against union leaders, professors and members of the civil organizations who supported the 10-day strike by the banana workers, said Espino.

But Education Minister Lucy Molinar said those striking professors will be asked to work during this summer break and their salaries will be cut.

More:
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90852/7064023.html