RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Several labor unions, associations, and guilds of Panama protested this Thursday in the premises of the Parliament against the Government, which celebrates its second anniversary today, in a demonstration that ended in skirmishes against the police.
The protest was peaceful until a small group broke down the security cordon and threw paint at the police, who responded with tear gas and dispersed the gathering (Photo internet reproduction)
“It is a government more of the same, businesslike, just like the other six governments of the last 31 years (…) we need a new country, to found a new state. New democracy, new rules of the game”, the leader of the powerful construction union Suntracs, Saúl Mendéz, told EFE.
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Outrage in Panama over police beatings of protester, photographer
La Estrella de Panama newspaper provided this photo of Agencia Efe s Bienvenido Velasco surrounded by police while covering a demonstration in Panama City on Wednesday, 16 December 2020. EFE-EPA/Roberto Barrios/Courtesy La Estrella de Panama
Police arrest a protester in front of Panama s National Assembly in Panama City on Wednesday, 16 December 2020. EFE-EPA/Bienvenido Velasco
Police arrest a protester outside Panama s National Assembly in Panama City on Wednesday, 16 December 2020. EFE-EPA/Bienvenido Velasco
Panama s National Police faced criticism Thursday over the brutal beating of a young woman during a protest and an assault against a photojournalist who was covering the demonstration.
Outrage in Panama over police beatings of protester, photographer 3 minutes read
Panama City, Dec 17 (efe-epa).- Panama’s National Police faced criticism Thursday over the brutal beating of a young woman during a protest and an assault against a photojournalist who was covering the demonstration.
A video aired on Panamanian television and circulated on social media shows a male cop holding University of Panama student Ileana Corea while a helmeted female officer repeatedly hits the protester even as another officer attempts to intervene to stop the beating.
And when Agencia Efe’s Bienvenido Velasco tried to snap photos of the arrest of Corea and other demonstrators outside Congress on Wednesday, a cop delivered a blow to his back that landed the journalist in the hospital.