Panama Protests, Shortages

Did you know that Panama had just experienced a wave of protests? Looking for prepping related news and articles this past weekend, I came across this at the Daily Mail: "Massachusetts couple who moved to off-grid farm in Panama reveal they have no idea if they'll be able to return to their home because the country is 'in shambles' amid furious protests." The article, dated November 25, 2023, relates (underline added):

    Kaylee Dubeau and Jordan Saglio were due to return to their Central American homestead [near Boquete] on November 20 with their two-year-old daughter, Sadie, after completing a US road trip, but they revealed in their latest YouTube videos that they have been warned to stay away with the region 'in shambles.' 

    Protests have raged for weeks in Panama against Canadian-owned First Quantum's government-approved contract for a $10 billion copper mine, with some protests blocking access to the mine.

    In Kaylee and Jordan's video clips they reveal that friends back in Panama are now resorting to buying illegal gas for their car and the supermarkets are running low on supplies, with toilet paper being the first thing to go.

Friends of the couple warned that they had purchased gasoline on the black market, but had paid $120 for just 10 gallons. The couple also reported that this is the third time since they moved to Panama that the country has been overtaken by protests. At such times, gasoline is scarce and only available through the black market; there is no propane; food is scarce. Even in normal times, they are "always getting stuck with higher prices in Panama because they're considered foreigners."

    The protests concerned the Cobre Panama copper mine, operated by Minera Panama, the local subsidiary of Canada’s First Quantum Minerals. This is not a small operation. According to an AP article, "[t]he mine employs thousands and accounts for 3% of Panama’s gross domestic product." The protests appear to relate to a recent agreement between First Quantum and the Panamanian government that extended the mining concession for 20 years, and concerns over environmental issues. The AP article reports:

    The dispute over the mine led to some of Panama’s most widespread protests in recent years, including a blockade of the mine’s power plant. Protesters also blocked parts of the Pan American highway, including a stretch near the border with Costa Rica.

    Just before the ruling was announced, they opened the roadway so freight trucks could get through.

    Minera Panama said in a statement earlier this month that small boats had blocked its port in Colon province, preventing supplies from reaching the mine. Naval police reported that a ship carrying coal decided to turn back due to “hostility from a group of protesters who from their boats threw rocks and blunt homemade objects” before being dispersed.

    The protesters, a broad coalition of Panamanians, feared the mine’s impact on nature and especially on the water supply.

    After the protests began, the government nearly passed legislation that would have revoked the contract, but it backtracked in a debate in the National Assembly on Nov. 2.

    A court decision that declared the contract unconstitutional was the last opportunity for opponents to get it thrown out.

The Panamanian Supreme Court declared the contract unconstitutional today. However, an article from Crises24 yesterday suggested that the protestors might continue protests into December regardless of the outcome, disrupting transportation and shipment of essential goods like food, medicine and fuel.  

    An October 26, 2023, Americas Quarterly article gives more background on the protests, noting that they had actually started back in August, but started to intensify in November. A prior contract over the mine had been struck down by Panama's Supreme Court because it lacked a transparent public tender process, which were the same complaints brought against the newer contract. But behind this apparently are larger issues of corruption, a worsening economy, fears that the mine's use of water will impact the Panama Canal (already suffering from lower water levels due to a drought) and contaminate drinking water, and probably the innate hatred of socialists for foreign corporations. 

    From a prepping perspective, the biggest takeaways are: 

• Be wary of moving to a third world country (the article noted that the couple was regularly overcharged when making purchases, and even in the limited time they had lived in Panama this was the third major protest);
• Store food and other essentials, including fuel if possible (both gasoline and propane are specifically mentioned as in short supply or unobtainable in the article); and,
• Have alternative means of transportation both to get around road closures (the couple mentioned that there was only one major highway where they lived in Panama and so if it was closed, it stopped all transportation) and to conserve fuel.