Friday
Friday 8th July 2022.
July 8, 2022
The teachers’ unions meeting in the city of Santiago de Veraguas reported on Thursday afternoon, that they will meet with their bases in order to decree an indefinite work stoppage. A spokesman for the group indicated that the government of Laurentino Cortizo sent a commission to the meeting in Santiago “without any kind of proposals.” Meanwhile, the spokesmen for the authorities indicated that the dialogue table is still open and that this Friday, July 8, they will be willing to continue meeting with the representatives of the teachers’ unions. Earlier, a large number of teachers marched towards the National Assembly, which was heavily cordoned off. The educators, who have declared themselves unemployed, demand solutions to the constant rises in fuel prices and the basic food basket, among other claims. “There they are, they are, the ones who sell the Nation,” the educators chanted in the vicinity of the National Assembly. Many students and parents joined the activity. The conversations seek to address the issues that have motivated the claims: the constant increase in the price of fuel and the high cost of living. The city of Santiago has been the epicenter of the citizen protests that have taken to the streets in recent days. Regarding the effects of the suspension of classes, Gorday de Villalobos said that this issue is under evaluation. Until yesterday there was an opening of more than 85% of the schools; last Friday that percentage was 90%.
A group of students and administrators from the University of Panama went out to protest at noon this Thursday, July 7, against the government and closed the Transístmica highway. They denounce the government’s lack of responses to the problems faced by citizens such as the high cost of the basic food basket, the constant rise in fuel prices, as well as medicines. Agents of the National Police proceeded to divert the drivers to alternate routes.
The National Directorate of Environmental Education of the Ministry of Education (Meduca), through a circular, informed the directors of educational centers that the use of a mask in classrooms will be maintained, despite the lifting of the measure revoking the mandatory use from next Monday, July 11, 2022. The circular that bears the signature of the national director of Environmental Education, Carmen Aparicio, indicates that the decision was made as a precaution to reduce the risk of contagion of any infectious disease such as influenza, covid-19 , among others.
The Costa Rican government lamented Panama’s lack of will to reach an agreement through dialogue that ends a trade dispute related to dairy products and fruits, and announced that it will continue with the litigation before the World Trade Organization (WTO). “Since this situation originated, Costa Rica has never renounced the constructive dialogue with Panama, but our repeated efforts have not found an effective response from the Panamanian side, which leaves us no choice but to terminate this course of action at the ministerial level,” Costa Rican Foreign Trade Minister Manuel Tovar said in a statement. The case refers to the restrictions that Panama has imposed on the entry of Costa Rican agricultural products such as dairy products, strawberries, pineapples, bananas, meat and sausages from bovine, pork and poultry. According to the Costa Rican authorities, Panama reported on July 10, 2020 on the decision not to extend export authorization to a list of previously authorized Costa Rican establishments that have been exporting to Panama for many years. The Panamanian authorities have justified the decision in safety procedures for the food that is introduced into the country. The Costa Rican government affirmed that this controversy is added to another “non-compliance” of Panama that closed its market to Costa Rican tomato exports.” “The Government is evaluating the suspension of concessions to Panama, in application of the legitimate mechanisms established in the regulations that govern foreign trade,” the official statement points out.
In the early hours of this Thursday morning, experts from the Public Ministry and the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences carried out a review to evaluate the points where the lifeless body of the murdered businesswoman Stefannie Rodríguez was found. on March 30 of this year she was found in a solitary spot near a hydroelectric plant in El Valle de Las Lomas, David. The diligence was requested by lawyers of the defendant in this case, Ahmed Hisham Ahmed.
The Ministry of the Presidency will present to the Cabinet Council a proposal to take to the National Assembly, which allows extending the social aid received by the 480 affected by the clashes that occurred from July 6 to 10, 2010 in the district of Changuinola, province of Bocas del Toro. Currently, some 82 day-laborers who suffered vision damage during these clashes were granted a monthly lifetime pension of $800 by the state, and another 400 receive a pension of $200. However, Law 28 of May 4, 2015, which regulates this economic support, establishes that in this last group the aid must be reviewed every three years. Precisely, this month of October ends that period and so far the victims have not had an answer about the future of the pension. Many of them have hundreds of pellets embedded in their muscles, bones, and organs such as kidneys and livers. Jacinto Quintero, coordinator of the July 8 Committee, indicated that one of the agreements with the Presidency is that the aid will continue until 2025, especially since many of those affected by the clashes have seen their health deteriorate in recent years.