Teachers Continue Mobilizations in Panama

According to ASOPROF, the return to classes will depend on the government's progress in the negotiations regarding concrete actions to satisfy the people's demands.

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Panama: Consensus Reached on Issues To Discuss With Government

Hours after the first session of the single dialogue table installed in the province of Coclé, ASOPROF's secretary general, Fernando Ábrego, said that it remains to be seen what agreements will be reached by the government of President Laurentino Cortizo in the face of the people's protests against the high cost of living.

The agenda for today's working session was scheduled for 10:00 local time and included discussing the basic food basket issue, followed by fuels.

The talks involve delegates from the United People for Life Alliance, the National Alliance for the Rights of the Organized People (ANADEPO), members of the Ngäbe Buglé comarca groups and peasant communities.

The march of professors from the Republic of Panama is already on its way to the Presidency to demand answers from the government on the different problems that afflict the country today ASOPROF.

Eight points were agreed to be discussed with the Executive at the single dialogue table, among them a 30 percent reduction in the price of the basic food basket without affecting domestic producers. According to the organizations, 30 percent of the purchasing power of salaries and incomes has been lost in the last five years. 

Other points under discussion are the reduction and freezing of fuel prices, energy and medicine prices, corruption, and the creation of an inter-sectoral monitoring table.

Teachers, the first sector to go on strike, also demand the allocation of 6 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to education and the creation of real conditions for teaching in the country's public schools.

Following the beginning of the talks at the single table, the indigenous communities blocking the Inter-American highway at the Veraguas bridge, in the lanes going to the capital, Panama City, decided to reopen the road.