In a press conference, several leaders of the social and union organizations that make up this group denounced violations of accords stemming from debates at the Health Commission of the National Assembly (parliament), in a bid to impose the Government-backed bill, without addressing the proposals of the various popular groups.
They also condemned statements by the president of the United States, Donald Trump, as soon as he took office on January 20, threatening to retake the Panama Canal, on the pretext that China has developed excessive control over the waterway and is currently exacting excessive large tariffs on US ships.
One of the spokespersons for the alliance and general secretary of the National Union of Workers in the Construction Industry and Similar Industries (Suntracs), Saul Mendez, said that only through street protests can Panamanians get rid of such circumstances.
Accordingly, he called for a demonstration on next Thursday and Friday, aimed at also condemning the coming visit to Panama by US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who will seek to “review Trump’s agenda,” as part of a tour that will also take him to Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.
Earlier in statements to Prensa Latina, Mendez stressed that Rubio nothing to look for in this country, in reference to Trumps’ threats to reappropriate the interoceanic route, even with the use of military force.
Méndez urged the White House to respect the Treaties signed in September 1977 in Washington by late Presidents James Carter (1977-1981) and Omar Torrijos (1979-1981), which allowed the Canal to Panamanian hands in 1999.
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