Panama President ratchets up nationalism ahead of mine talks
Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino stepped up nationalist rhetoric toward a shuttered copper mine in the country as his administration prepares to negotiate a potential restart with operator First Quantum Minerals.
The mine belongs to Panama and any potential reopening would involve significant involvement from the country, Mulino said Thursday at a weekly press briefing in Panama City. He said both sides have started to establish the “necessary contacts” for talks to begin.
“That mine belongs to Panama, no one else,” the president said. “If the decision is to exploit it, Panama will do that — with an operator that is in charge of the technical aspects.”
Mulino is trying to navigate anti-mining sentiment in Panama at a time when a resumption of mining would bring a much-needed boost to the economy. He said any restart options would bypass Congress to avoid triggering the kind of mass protests that led to the mine’s closure in 2023. A contract extension approved by the legislature in 2023 was followed by weeks of protests.
“I have the responsibility of managing this with prudence,” Mulino said. “We are going to do it, accordingly, based on an economic benefit that the country desperately needs.”
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