PANAMA (AP) — Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo announced Sunday that he would request a popular consultation to decide whether to abrogate a contract with a Canadian company for the extraction of copper in a forest area in the north of the country, a question which has sparked massive protests in recent days.

In a brief nighttime message to the nation, Cortizo said he would ask the Electoral Tribunal to organize the consultation for December 17, a measure that did not seem to immediately convince the organizers of the protests who insisted on social networks so that they continue in the streets.

“Thanks to citizen participation, through voting, we will be able to legitimize the will of the people, the result of which will be obligatory. The people are the sovereign,” the president said after another day of protests and demonstrations in the capital and the rest of the Central American country.

This is the third announcement that Cortizo has made this week on the national network to try to calm the massive protests, led mainly by young people through social networks and by unions in the construction sector, teachers and doctors, among others, which demand repeal. of contract law.

Pots and pans clanged in the capital's residential skyscrapers after the presidential announcement.

Cortizo, who has less than a year left to complete his five-year term, sanctioned and accelerated contract law Friday October 20, after it was quickly approved by Parliament despite popular rejection. The law gave the right to Minera Panamá, a subsidiary of the Canadian company First Quantum Minerals, to continue the extraction, processing and marketing of copper and other minerals over an area of ​​more than 12,955 hectares for a period of 20 years, extendable to an additional 20 years. .

While the government defends the contract by arguing that it saves thousands of jobs in this mine and that it makes an important contribution to the economy of the country of just over 4 million inhabitants, those who reject emphasize that the State grants too many concessions to the company and is financially disadvantageous for Panama.

The government emphasizes that the contract guarantees a minimum annual contribution of $375 million from the mining company, which began exporting the ore in June 2019. The company indicated that exports will amount to 2.85 billion dollars in 2022.

Protesters also oppose the rights granted to the mine to use water in this area considered important in terms of water, and warn of the impact on the environment, including deforestation. The mining company claims to use 100% rainwater in a closed circuit to process the ore.

This week, at least five unconstitutionality appeals were filed before the Supreme Court of Justice against the contract law, two of which were admitted. Legal experts said a declaration of unconstitutionality would void the contract and free the state from potential multimillion-dollar lawsuits from the company. However, the direction of these resources is now unknown following the announcement of the call for consultation.

Cortizo also announced that he would elevate the national ban on metals mining to the level of law.

Sunday marked the seventh day of protests in the capital and the rest of the country, considered the largest since those registered against the regime of dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega in the late 1980s.