News
Tuesday 3rd June 2025.
June 2, 2025
The Minister of Labor and Workforce Development, Jackeline Muñoz, revealed this Monday, June 2, that the Chiquita Panama company has completely ceased its administrative operations in the province of Bocas del Toro, after more than a month of work stoppage in the district of Changuinola.
Muñoz reported that approximately 60 people from the administrative team have been laid off. This latest wave of layoffs adds to a chain of job cuts that, so far, shows no signs of stopping, in a context where Changuinola’s economy—heavily supported by banana production—remains paralyzed.
Previously, on May 22, Chiquita Panama and Ilara Holding announced the layoff of all daily workers at their Changuinola farms.
The company attributed the measure to layoffs and warned that economic losses—at the time—exceeded $75 million, with “irreversible” damage to banana production. This meant 5,000 workers would lose their jobs.
Although the company never specified what would happen to its operations after the mass layoffs, it was understood that the layoffs were in response to the need to conduct an internal audit, assess the damage, and determine how much production could be recovered.
The plan, according to industry sources, would contemplate a gradual reactivation, starting with what can be salvaged on the farms, once the strike called by the Banana Industry Workers Union (Sitraibana) is lifted. This protest against the Social Security reforms and amid a climate of growing social discontent in the region.
However, the departure of administrative staff could be a definitive step , after the company announced on May 12 the closure of its offices in Changuinola, Bocas del Toro, with the transfer of senior administrative staff to Costa Rica “temporarily.”
The Minister of Labor also noted that the company has announced that it will submit a request this week for authorization to dismiss the remaining personnel associated with the banana farms.
“They have informed us that this week they will be submitting the dismissal authorization for the remaining staff at the banana company,” Muñoz stated, following a high-level meeting also attended by the Minister of the Presidency, Juan Carlos Orillac.
The Labor Minister stated that she was informed that the workers’ strike was declared illegal on appeal, as it was determined that the strike was not strictly due to a labor dispute, but rather to other causes.
Changuinola’s economy has been at a standstill for more than a month as a result of road closures and protests by banana workers, who have not been able to visit their farms during this time as part of pressure measures following their opposition to pension system reforms.
To date, Chiquita Panama has not confirmed the definitive cessation of its operations in Bocas del Toro.
In September 2022, the Single Union of Construction and Related Workers (Suntracs) celebrated its 50th anniversary.
However, the joy that should have accompanied the organization’s golden anniversary was replaced by growing concern, especially among its leaders.
As if it were a terrible anniversary gift, on that date it was learned that the union organization—and several of its most prominent leaders—was named in a criminal complaint for a series of crimes related to 14 properties in Red Frog Beach Club . These properties were offered by the developer Pillar Construction, SA (later renamed Bastimentos Holding ) as payment of labor compensation to 412 workers who participated in the construction of that project on Bastimentos Island, Bocas del Toro .
Following an out-of-court settlement with the construction company, the properties were transferred to Suntracs (which supposedly represented the workers) between 2012 and 2020. Since then, there have been unsuccessful efforts to get the union to deliver what was owed to the beneficial owners of the land.
It was then that, from within the organization, a “me-with-me” plan emerged: using a cooperative belonging to the same union, they secured the 14 farms, using them as collateral for a supposed mortgage loan contract for $3.1 million.
By June 6, 2022, Suntracs had already signed, notarized, and registered the loan agreement in the Public Registry . This led to the former employees, a month and a half later, when they filed the complaint, discovering that the assets were mortgaged to the Suntracs Multiple Services Cooperative, RL.
But the plan was far from perfect.
The cooperative didn’t have sufficient funds to grant such a loan. Its Savings Bank (CA) account held only $201,156.78. The union, on the other hand, did have the money. So they came up with the idea of having the workers’ organization “lend” the cooperative the funds, and the cooperative, in turn, “lend” them back.
All information related to this questionable transaction, as well as the precarious credit guarantee that was attempted to be established, is now in the hands of the Second Prosecutor’s Office against Organized Crime . This prosecutor’s office recently handed over custody of the 14 properties to the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) while it investigates the Suntracs leaders for the possible commission of five crimes: aggravated fraud , money laundering , criminal association , document forgery , and malfeasance .
The irregularities don’t end there. In addition to the lack of an “apparent commercial rationale” for the transaction, neither the union was authorized to grant lines of credit, nor the cooperative to offer mortgage loans.
Members of Suntracs’ senior management and its cooperative participated in the alleged “simulation” of this transaction.
So far, the prosecutor’s office has requested the arrest of four Suntracs executives: Saúl Méndez , secretary general; Genaro López , former secretary general and current Secretary of Finance; Jaime Caballero , Secretary of National and International Relations; and Erasmo Cerrud , Secretary of Defense.
Méndez has been in the Bolivian embassy since May 21, awaiting a decision on his asylum application. López and Caballero are being held in La Nueva Joya , and Cerrud’s whereabouts are unknown. The National Police have offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to his location.
Vamos coalition leader Juan Diego Vásquez and legislative caucus leader Janine Prado were the first to speak out regarding the announcement of Representative Betserai Richards’ departure from the coalition, which was announced on Monday, June 2.
While Prado received the news “with surprise,” Vásquez wished Richards success in his role; both, after being contacted by La Prensa .
“Have we formally received anything in writing or a phone call? Personally, no,” Prado responded.
“I learned about it following his statement, and it was then forwarded to the caucus,” the representative explained, after Richards’ letter was made public. This comes less than a month before the start of a new period of ordinary sessions in the National Assembly —on July 1.
In his statement, Richards asserted that his decision was made in the belief that “full independence” would honor the trust placed in him by his constituents in Circuit 8-6, in East Panama.
In this regard, Prado expressed his disagreement , as he does not believe that changes can be achieved individually.
Prado stated that “everyone is free to make their own decisions,” however, he distanced himself from the matter, stating that he did not want to “preempt individual decisions .”
For his part, Vásquez said he’s not worried about Richards potentially causing other Vamos members to leave the coalition.
“Vamos’s concern is focused on solving the country’s main problems and addressing the current tensions. At Vamos, we firmly believe that transforming the country requires a team and individuals. Anyone who disagrees with this vision should reconsider their participation in the Coalition. We must work harder, but we will do it for the country,” Vásquez stated.
Vamos has respected individual decisions in the past, guided by collective principles that, according to its website, revolve around the practice of a different kind of politics than traditional ones, one based on transparency, participation, and accountability .
During its first regular session in the Legislature, the independence of decision-making was demonstrated in the vote on Law 462, which reformed the Social Security Fund (CSS) .
On that occasion, Vamos defended individual voting criteria. The 20-member coalition—19 without Richards—saw 10 of its representatives vote in favor of Law 462 and 10 against it .
Since then, there have been notable disagreements among the members of the collective, some of which Richards has been at the center of .
However, Prado asserts that on May 13, when the group met to define the new leadership of the caucus and participation in committees, Richards participated without announcing his intention to leave the group.
The National Police reported this Monday, June 2, that, in coordination with the Public Ministry, 400 packages of drugs were seized in the province of Chiriquí .
It was reported that the seizure took place in the Tierras Altas district and that one person was arrested during the police operation.
According to authorities, the seizure took place at a checkpoint in Tierras Altas, when officers stopped a pickup truck with a trailer for transporting horses. Upon inspection, they found several sacks containing the packages.
Police reported that the arrested person was taken to the Volcán substation, along with the evidence, to be held at the disposal of the relevant authorities.
The company Recicladora Vida y Salud, SA (Revisalud) , responsible for the collection and final disposal of waste in the district of San Miguelito , announced through a press release that it will suspend its services in 47 public educational centers starting June 30, due to a multi-million dollar debt accumulated by the Ministry of Education (Meduca) .
Since November 2022, the company has provided cleaning services at educational facilities without receiving payment from the State , accumulating a debt of $1,389,017.27 . Despite this, it has maintained operational continuity using its own resources.
“The continuity of this essential service has been sustained exclusively by our institutional commitment to the educational community, mindful of the health and operational impact that an interruption could have on schools. However, we have reached a point of unsustainable financial imbalance,” said Daniel Manrique, general manager of Revisalud.