civil unrest

Protests turn violent: 21 injured, 200 arrested

Construction workers clashed with police yesterday after a colleague was killed Tuesday.

Workers also protested in three other provinces, and today further protests are planned.

LA PRENSA

battle:Police and protestors square off during a confrontation in Panama City Wednesday. Police arrested 200 people during the day. 983909

In the most violent and intense riots the country has seen in years, construction workers in four provinces clashed with police yesterday to protest the killing of one of their co-workers in Colón Tuesday.

Traffic in Panama City ground to a halt as protestors closed several major roads. The protestors continued throughout the day all over the city.

Similar scenes were reported in Colón, Coclé and Chiriquí.

The protestors are affiliated with the Sindicato Único de Trabajadores de

la Construcción y Similares (Suntracs).

Tuesday, Suntracs member Al Iromi Emoir Smith Rentería was shot and killed by police when a protest in Colón turned violent. Two other Suntracs members were wounded in that incident.

Police said that Rentería was one of three workers that had attacked officers at the Policlínica Hugo Spadafora in Colón.

The police report said that the officer shot Rentería because he was trying to grab a weapon.

Wednesday, Panama City's streets were either filled with chaos as protestors set tires on fire to block traffic and police responded with tear gas, or eerily quiet as few cars were able to negotiate their way through the city.

At least 21 people were injured in Wednesday's protests, in which police used tear gas and rubber bullets against construction workers who threw bricks and rocks from building sites and the streets.

The injured included 10 officers, eight construction workers, two television news employees and a civilian.

There were also numerous people affected by the tear gas which police fired into the groups of protestors.

The violence in Panama City was concentrated around the Atlapa Convention Center, where 13 projects are under construction. These building sites provided ample cover for the construction workers as they fought with police.

At least five construction workers were injured in this area.

The violence spilled out to the Corredor Sur, a major conduit to and from the city, which was closed for a time.

Police took 200 people into custody.

After Tuesday's rioting, 30 construction workers in Colón were arrested.

Ricardo Vargas, defensor del Pueblo, criticized the government and the police for not handling the situation more professionally.

"When you carry a weapon, you should have the capability to handle the situation better than someone who does not receive such instruction," he said.

The defender recalled that he has been asking the government since July to implement changes in safety rules for construction workers, one of the major contentions of the union.

Meanwhile, the Pastoral Social and the Archdiocese of Panama yesterday condemned what they saw as an abuse of force by the police as a pretext for keeping order. "We want to live together in peace. Things do not have to be resolved with violence," said Patrick Hanssens, director of the Pastoral Social.

His colleague at the Archdiocese, Manuel Villareal, agreed with him.

"When the police exercise force, they have to do it with professionalism and respect for the dignity and human rights of those they are dealing with," he said.

Suntracs officials called for the resignation of Ministro de Gobierno y Justicia Daniel Delgado Diamante, Policía Nacional Director Rolando Mirones and Attorney General Ana Matilde Gómez.

They are also calling for an independent commission to be appointed to investigate Rentería's death.

Union members plan to march from Parque Porras to the president's office at 4 p.m. today.