Panama: hope and uncertainty reign due to legal decision on mining contract

Environmentalists and young people have been camping for days in front of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) of Panama with the “hope” of that body declaring unconstitutional the mining contractepicenter of the serious crisis that has been plaguing the country for a month, thus seeking to put pressure on the judges, who begin a permanent session this Friday.

“We hope that the Court rules in favor of unconstitutionality. This has been a claim for more than a month (…) and we hope that it will benefit the country, the homeland and the sovereignty.”said Carlos Escudero, of the Panama Worth More Without Mining Movement, one of the most popular environmental groups.

Since last November 12, a group “watch” day and night to the Supreme Court to give a decision as soon as possible, since the highest body of justice in the country has in its hands the future of that controversial contract with Minera Panamá, a subsidiary of the Canadian company. First Quantum Minerals (FQM)and a possible way out of the internal crisis.

The pressure on Panama’s highest judicial body will intensify this Friday, when the plenary session of the Supreme Court of Justice will enter into session. “permanent session” to decide the ruling on the unconstitutionality or not of that mining contract, the focus of the largest protests in Panama for decades.

Although part of Panamanian society wants Justice to rule in favor of the popular clamor, which for weeks has been demanding that the authorities with street demonstrations and road blockades eliminate this contract for its ecological impact and the country’s sovereignty, some protesters have recognized their distrust of the justice body, which they accuse of being politicized.

“We hope that there is a positive response to our country and that the ruling is effectively given in favor of our nation.”However, declared Edgar Días, of the Green Voice environmental movement.

In front of the main entrance of the Gil Ponce Palace, as the Supreme Court is known, there is a huge sign with the message “CSJ The people are watching” and a large stocks next to it, a wooden device that immobilizes the hands and feet used for centuries in the indigenous areas of Panama as a method of punishment.

Young people and environmentalists maintain morning and afternoon shifts, organized through social networks. They have also raised a small “base camp” -as they call it- on one side of the headquarters of justice surrounded by tents and a large pot on the fire.

In this way and despite the incessant rain, they have not abandoned the vigil that began days after Parliament gave up repealing the mining contract through a bill, leaving the decision to declare it unconstitutional up to the magistrates, a path that environmentalists defend considering that this would put the Panamanian State in a more advantageous situation in the face of a possible international arbitration.

The partial failure and the uncertainty of the times

Some specialist lawyers consulted have raised a possible third option in the equation: that the Court of Justice make a partial ruling, that is, that some articles are against the Magna Carta and others are not, which would increase social tension.

“I’m afraid they are going to declare that it is half unconstitutional. “That means an aberrant nonsense (nonsense) since in constitutional matters things are or they are not (…) This is going to further inflame public opinion,” declared constitutional lawyer and university professor Miguel Antonio Bernal.

In the opinion of lawyer Ernesto Cedeño, that is a “remote possibility because the law has been sued and not a specific article.”

This theory, which has gained strength in recent days, is widely rejected by protesters and unions, who warn that the protests will not stop: “We do not expect the Court’s ruling to be partial, but complete”expressed the leader of Voz Verde, Zoany Mero.

In turn, these same experts point out that the decision time of the highest judicial body in Panama is very variable, since it could take hours or up to three weeks even though the Court has already announced that it will “make a decision in the shortest time possible.”

The Central American country meanwhile continues in uncertainty, after five weeks of protests that have hit the economy and left at least four dead.