Colonense deputy Jairo “Bolota” Salazar, who joined the second day of the general strike in the province of Colon on Tuesday, referred this Wednesday, on Radio Panama, to the problems facing his city and nobody is doing anything to improve it.
He stated that they have always called for peace in Colón and to demonstrate peacefully. “If the police attack us first, then we enter as protesters. We are tired of the contempt of all governments,” he said.
He asserted that they have never won anything (the people of Colon) with passive protests.
“What’s more, we have put the dead in this country, so that Panama could be free, so that Panama could become independent. My city is the one that contributes the most to this blessed country and we are living like Haiti, because there is nothing. And “It’s not us Colonists, it’s the governments that have looted us. Patronage has put us in the abyss,” stressed the PRD deputy.
Salazar revealed that on Tuesday he was able to meet with President Laurentino Cortizo and some ministers to explain the situation in his province, which he considers has already gotten out of control. “Today the president is going to meet with his cabinet to give important news to the country. This is not that the president has to come at once, because he has to organize himself with his security forces. They want it to be an open meeting , because among the same groups they don’t trust each other,” he said.
It should be noted that with this general strike in Colón, the protesters demand that the Government comply with the agreements reached since November 2021, on economic reactivation, education and health.
During these three days of strike, clashes have been reported between the demonstrators and the crowd control units of the National Police, including more than 10 arrests of Colon leaders and an injured police unit.
