national

Suntracs worker buried

Víctor Arosemena/LA PRENSA

mourning:Suntracs members carry the coffin of Al Iromi Smith Rentería to his funeral in Colón yesterday. He was shot and killed by police on Feb. 11, setting off nation-wide protests.986741

Al Iromi Smith Rentería was buried yesterday in Colón as speakers at his funeral demanded justice for the slain construction worker.

Rentería was shot by police officers on Feb. 11 while protesting for the Sindicato Único de Trabajadores de la Construcción y Similares (Suntracs). His death set off a series of violent protests in Panama City and Colón in which hundreds of union members were arrested and hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage was caused to public property.

Yesterday's funeral was peaceful as friends, family and other supporters of the union marched through the streets after the funeral.

The large crowd chanted slogans against the government and police.

In addition to Suntracs, there was a large contingent of other union members at the funeral, including representatives from la Coordinadora de Unidad Campesina, la Cámara Nacional del Transporte, el Frente Nacional por la Defensa de la Seguridad, Asociación Nacional de Funcionarios and Administrativos de la Caja de Seguro Social.

Suntracs leader Genaro López indicated that it is the responsibility of the union to continue to fight for justice, and announced that it has formed a special commission to investigate the death.

"It is not an easy task that we have," he said. "Our colleagues have been threatened and persecuted. But we will continue our struggle."

Conrado Sanjur de Frenadeso said that the situation has highlighted a lack of civil rights in Panama and the government's refusal to respond to the concerns of the working class.

It is unclear how the situation will unfold in the coming days as Suntracs and other organizations continue to protest and interact with police.

Yesterday, Universidad de Panama students who were handing out leaflets denouncing the government's actions said that police threatened them by brandishing their weapons.

The Asociación de Empleados de la Caja de Seguro Social (Aecss) also held a demonstration yesterday calling for changes in the government.

Aecss leader Priscilla Vásquez said that the language used by Ministro de Gobierno y Justicia Daniel Delgado Diamante reminds her of the tone that he used when he was a member of the Fuerzas de Defensa during the military dictatorship.

Also yesterday, the government denied rumors that the Venezuelan government was funneling money to Panama's labor unions to destabilize the country.