Monday
Monday 28th April 2025.
April 27, 2025
Education Minister Lucy Molinar announced the suspension of classes for this Monday, April 28, in public and private schools in the country’s 16 educational regions, amid the strike declared by teachers’ unions.
At a press conference on Sunday, Minister Molinar said that the measure is for all schools to “safeguard the integrity of students . ”
“This is not an easy, comfortable, or fair decision. Because for us, protecting every day, every minute of our students’ education is a priority,” Molinar stated.
The Education Minister stated that they cannot take the risk of having to face the consequences of things they do not want.
Several teachers’ unions declared a strike last Wednesday, April 23, in protest of the new Social Security Fund (CSS) law. The National Union of Construction Workers (Suntracs) also announced a strike this Monday.
Protests are expected to take place across the country.
“I want to take advantage of this opportunity to call for reflection. In a democracy, there are mechanisms for debate, for discussion; there is the right to disagree; there are spaces for making proposals and proposing alternatives,” Molinar added.
The minister stated that she doesn’t know what creates chaos and asserted that teachers who want to teach have been threatened and harassed.
“Yes, there were threats, there was harassment, there was intimidation, there were truly appalling conditions, which should not exist among educators or in the education system. We have spoken with many; they are very concerned and have told us, Minister, we want to, yes, but I am not going to confront these people. There is fear .”
Molinar announced that the situation will be assessed this Monday and that the decision to suspend classes has been made by the Ministry of Education with the approval of the President of the Republic, José Raúl Mulino.
“I spoke to him and told him, I don’t want to… I just couldn’t; it wouldn’t even come out of my mouth to say it. Because for us, who have been fighting all these weeks to defend every day of school, having to go out and cancel a day of classes ourselves is an affront to our own mission,” Molinar said.
Panama’s teachers’ unions announced they will maintain their indefinite strike this Monday, April 28, in rejection of Law 462 of March 18, 2025, which is being challenged by the teaching sector and other social movements.
Humberto Montero, spokesperson for the Independent Educators Front, stated that the first days of the strike have been “satisfactory” and warned that the movement will gain strength with the incorporation of more social and union sectors starting this Monday. While acknowledging that some teachers continue to attend classes for fear of reprisals, he affirmed that “the vast majority remains steadfast in the struggle.”
Ancón representative Yamireth Batista addressed the progress of the audits being conducted by the Communal Board during the previous administration of Iván Vásquez, noting that her responsibility has been to detect irregularities and file the corresponding complaints.
“From there, the competent authorities carry out their function,” he said, explaining that officials from the Comptroller General’s Office have been reviewing the management of funds between 2019 and 2023 for months.
In fact, at the time, Comptroller Anel Flores focused on three municipal governments: Ancón, Curundú, and Betania. He explained that these three local governments concentrate a considerable portion of the resources administered through the controversial parallel decentralization, and preliminary records point to possible irregularities in the management of these funds.
The comptroller emphasized that the investigations will focus on analyzing financial transactions through the National Bank accounts, where the records of issued checks are kept. He stated that there will be no tolerance for those who have mismanaged resources intended for the well-being of communities.
The Ancón councilor clarified that the audit process is proceeding independently and under mechanisms to which the Municipal Council has no access. She indicated that the Comptroller’s Office will issue a ruling on the irregularities detected in due course.
“They have their processes and methodologies,” he emphasized, avoiding anticipating results before the official review is completed.
Regarding the magnitude of the alleged misconduct during the previous administration, the representative was emphatic: “There are countless incidents.” However, she cautioned that the lack of complete documentation and records prevents a precise account of the irregularities. Batista insisted that her priority has been to fulfill the commitments made to the community during her current administration.
One of the biggest obstacles to clarifying the situation has been the loss of information. Batista reported that, during the transition, digital information stored on the Communal Board’s computers was destroyed, a fact that was reported to the Attorney General’s Office.
He also stated that no records of bank transactions or documentation related to parallel decentralization funds were found.
The National Assembly is preparing to close its current session next Wednesday, April 30, with crucial bills yet to be debated or approved. Meanwhile, practices such as absenteeism and lack of quorum are paralyzing the plenary agenda.
Reforms to the internal regulations , designed to limit the privileges of representatives and increase transparency, top the list of initiatives in limbo. Meanwhile, for the second and third debates, there is a list of more than 30 bills.
Reforms to the legislative regulations are a long-standing promise that has yet to materialize, despite growing citizen demands for greater transparency and efficiency in legislative work.
However, there are issues that have dominated the attention of the Justo Arosemena Palace. Between November 2024 and March of this year, the Assembly focused on reforming Panama’s pension and retirement law. Before that, the deputies turned their attention to the discussion of the general state budget, a project that faced several obstacles.
While some parties are attempting to conclude the term showing concrete progress, the overall balance reflects a series of postponed issues, unfinished reforms, and the feeling that, once again, the National Assembly is indebted to the country.
The Panamanian Chamber of Commerce, Industries, and Agriculture (CCIAP) expressed its rejection of the construction workers’ union’s call for a strike and the teachers’ union’s suspension of classes, calling them “irresponsible measures that, far from building progress, continue to cause setbacks in a country that urgently needs to move forward.”
The business association lamented that “these strikes affect the economy” but noted that “beyond the economic impact, we are saddened by the impact on education, health, and social stability.”
He also asked: “How many medical appointments are missed? How many opportunities are lost for small entrepreneurs or for professionals on their way to a job interview? How many students are still falling behind?”
The CCIAP (National Union of Workers’ Compensation and Employment) denounced the protests as being justified by “falsehoods,” reiterating that “the retirement age has not been raised.” It also noted that “many of the proposals presented by these same unions were accepted” and that “employers are already paying more, as they requested.”
Regarding teachers, the union questioned: “Are we really going to continue punishing young people, the same ones who suffered during the pandemic due to the longest school closures in Latin America, the same ones who were affected by the closures in 2022 and 2023? Those who already face a disadvantage when they enter the workforce?”
The Chamber urged: “Teachers: no one has changed your retirement age. The few who have joined the strike, go teach. Education cannot continue to be held hostage by foreign conflicts and, worse still, by false conflicts.”
The CCIAP warned the organizing groups that “if what you want is to halt the Panamanian economy or create chaos to impose your ideas, do so head-on. But don’t use false excuses to disguise your political or destabilizing interests.”
Furthermore, the business association admitted that the issues under discussion—the Social Security Fund, the mine, and Río Indio—are “large and complex issues” that must be addressed because “Panama needs brave decisions,” but not with strikes.
The Chamber criticized the fact that the only method is to call “pointless strikes, which only exacerbate the problems.”
From the productive sectors in the interior of the country, the Chamber of Commerce conveyed a clear message: “We don’t want handouts. We want to work. Let us produce. Don’t close the streets.” According to the CCIAP, this is “the true voice of the Panama that works, of those who get up every day to sow, to sell, to generate.”
Finally, the business association posed a key question: “Are these groups calling for a strike really thinking about Panama?” They emphasized that ” Panamanians are fed up with the paralysis; they want to go out to work with honor and dignity; they want to improve themselves.” They concluded that “what Panama needs is to move forward,” and that to achieve this, “Panamanians need to stop putting obstacles in their way.”