First modification:
As protests by environmentalists and unions continue to demand the scrapping of the contract between the Panamanian government and the local subsidiary of First Quantum Minerals for the exploitation of copper, the Legislative Assembly has paralyzed the issuance of new mining concessions and the president sanctioned the law.
This Friday, November 3, 2023, the National Assembly of Panama approved a mining moratorium law of indefinite duration which prohibits the granting of metal mining concessions in the future and orders the rejection of those in progress on all the national territory.
This project, sent by the Executive and ratified by President Laurentino Cortizo after its approval, was born in response to the citizen rejection of the renewal of the contract between the government and the Canadian company First Quantum Minerals (FQM), which operates the copper mine . the largest in Central America.
However, the new regulation does not comment on the situation of the Canadian company, since, on Thursday, November 2, the Assembly modified the project and repealed the article that referred to the controversial contract, which revived protests in the streets .
With this decision, It will be the Supreme Court of Justice of this country which will have to decide whether this contract is valid or unconstitutional, an action which, on the one hand, arouses distrust in various sectors and alerts lawyers, because it assumes that the company could sue the State if the contract is refused.
Once the standard was sanctioned, President Laurentino Cortizo declared that he was “awaiting” the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice.
I inform the country that I have sanctioned Law 407 of 2023 “which prohibits the granting of concessions for the exploration, extraction, transport and profit from the exploitation of metal mines throughout the national territory » (Moratorium Law). pic.twitter.com/sODk4pq4uO
– Nito Cortizo (@NitoCortizo) November 3, 2023
The massive protests in Panama have led to marches and blockades on main roads, led by the Single National Union of Workers in Construction and Similar Industries (Suntracs), which opposes this contract with the FQM for 20 years extendable for open-cast mining.
With the EFE and the AFP
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