Doctors at public hospitals in Panama began a strike on Wednesday in support of protests demanding the scrapping of a mining contract between the state and a Canadian-owned company to continue copper extraction in a vast forest area, while they continued for the third day. marches in the capital and within the country.

Meanwhile, educators, who along with construction workers led the week’s massive protests, approved the extension of the strike for another 48 hours while holding marches and rallies in various parts of the country.

On Wednesday, health workers from the Association of Physicians, Dentists and Allied Workers of the Social Security Fund began a 72-hour strike in public hospitals across the country. “Health for the population, no to mining,” read a sign displayed by an official during a demonstration on the grounds of a public hospital in the capital.

The head of the health group, Dr. Fernando Castañeda, told the AP that the call for the strike was successful and that in addition to the capital, it received support from hospitals in the interior of the country, despite threats of administrative sanctions.

“The staff remained loyal. There is a feeling of solidarity among all the people,” said the doctor, stressing that “a significant part of the population has accepted the call not to come if it is not urgent.”

During the closure, doctors continue to provide care to hospitalized and emergency room patients. They also prioritize the care of pregnant women, newborns and febrile symptoms in children.

Late at night, a crowd of demonstrators marched through the high-rise areas of the center of the Panamanian capital, facing the Pacific Ocean, made up mainly of young people, as had happened in previous days.

Protests and road closures taking place in the capital and inland provinces have started to create shortages and rising prices of vegetables and pulses in key supply markets. Meanwhile, producers in sectors such as poultry and meat have expressed concern over the blockades.

The protests intensified after President Laurentino Cortizo quickly sanctioned and signed into law on Friday the law on contracts with a subsidiary of the Canadian company First Quantum Minerals, which had previously been approved by Parliament despite popular rejection.

This is a new contract that grants the mining company the right to extract, process and export copper and associated minerals for a period of 20 years – extendable for a further 20 years – in four areas of 12,955 hectares in the north of the country, an activity which has already been developing since these deposits were granted at the end of the 1990s.

It is estimated to be the largest private investment in Panama’s history, at more than $6 billion, and the largest mine of its kind in Central America.

Critics reject the contract because they believe it grants too many concessions to the mining company and would have a strong environmental impact and jeopardize water resources, vital for human consumption. They also mention that the future operation of the interoceanic canal could even be affected, already hit by climate change and drought.

The Cortizo government is defending the contract tooth and nail, saying it guarantees the employment of 9,000 workers and will give the state a minimum annual income for the company’s $375 million concession, which has declared exports of $2.85 billion in 2022 and highlighted that it contributed 4.8% to Panama’s gross domestic product in 2021.