In the midst of several days of protests in different parts of the country, teachers’ unions decreed an indefinite strike on Thursday after failing to reach an agreement at the dialogue table set up by the Minister of Education, Maruja Gorday de Villalobos, in the province of Veraguas.
Teachers have pointed out that there were no direct responses to their requests about freezing fuel prices and the high cost of the basic basket, and claim that the government did not come up with proposals.
The teachers’ leader, Diógenes Sánchez, explained that there are several actors and sectors that are protesting in the streets. “Asoprof, which is the Association of Teachers and is known as the United People’s Alliance for Life, we made two marches towards the Presidency: one was on May 19 where we delivered a 32-point statement so that they would give us answers and then We did another march on June 28 where we went to look for the answer because they gave us that date, however, when they began to explain our proposals, of the 32, no answer could be given to those 32 points that we had established,” he added.
He stressed that after this, the meeting was called for the high-level table in Veraguas, “but what happened in Veraguas is that the same officials who assisted us in the Presidency were the same ones who went to Veraguas, so this was a chronicle of a failed proposal because the government does not have the capacity to respond”.
Sánchez revealed on Radio Panama, that after so many days of protests, the Vice President and Minister of the Presidency, José Gabriel Carrizo, has summoned them to a dialogue table this Friday morning; not only to the teaching unions but to the entire United People’s Alliance for Life.
“We are going to attend that call so that they do not say that we are intransigent and that we have no proposals,” said the leader.
He stated that they still do not know the place of the meeting, but the dialogue table is official. In turn, he indicated that the demonstrations will continue until an agreement is reached with the government.
