Martinelli changes tactics in mining battle

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La Ley 8 será derogada en Consejo Extraordinario, un Presidente como yo siempre escuchará a su pueblo

Ricardo Martinelli, today on Twitter.

President Martinelli made a surpise visit to San Felíx today, the epicenter of the battle against the sell-out of Panama to mining giants, and announced that Law 8, the new mining code, would be repealed.

Did he, after weeks of battling it out in the streets with a furious Ngöbe Buglé population, tens of wounded, millions in damages, expelled journalists, an international storm of criticism and polls showing that a majority of Panamanians is against mining, finally see the light? We don't really believe that.

First of all, the rogue mining outfit known as Petaquilla, headed by a former corrupt governor of Coclé and convicted drug trafficker Richard Fifer, set up shop in Panama without law 8 and under the previous PRD administration - in other words, Martinelli doesn't really need his law to move forward with his plans to facilitate deals between Inmet and the Korean government.

Second, we're just days before carnival, and this government is unprecedented in jamming through controversial changes and corrupt schemes when nobody is looking.

Then, Martinelli suffered a similar kick in the balls last year with the Battle of Changuinola, repealed the contested legal mix of the "sausage law", only to then pass most of its contents again in separate laws.

So, your Bananama Republic is absolutely unconvinced that this is either a victory or the end of this saga. Or, as someone on FaceBook put it: Be careful with that light on the end of the tunnel, it might be a train coming from the opposite direction.

5 thoughts on “Martinelli changes tactics in mining battle

  1. Please read Dr. Mauro Zúñiga Article and Opinion about Martinelli tells more than one would want to believe!( Noted Below)

    It certainly states the obvious and much more about this Despot drunken manic depressive Bi-polar President and his stance against the citizens of Panama and how his cowardly ministers and Gestapo Security clowns serve him!

    It is in Spanish!

    Well worth the read!

    For those of you who have not read about Dr. Mauro Zúñiga!

    Dr. Mauro Zúñiga was one of the principal leader of the Civilista movement against the dictatorship in the 1980s.

    In this column(URL:) noted below he wrote about, among other things, how Ricardo Martinelli got his real start in the supermarket business .

    URL:
    http://dialogociudadano.com/opinion/politica/5282-el-estado-soy-yo-mauro-zuniga-arauz.html

    My greatest fear and Dr. Mauro Zúñiga now confirms this is that this Panamanian Government under Martinelli is Militarizing at an a alarming rate.

    The National Police are fast becoming an Occupational Army!

    The National Police do less and less in the way a true Police work, does not even strive or act to serve and Protect it’s Citizens!

    They now are routinely shooting unarmed assailant and escapees with Shot Guns and M16 Rifles!

    Just yesterday this video of the Police shooting an unarmed assailant !

    URL: http://www.tvn-2.com/noticias/noticias_detalle.asp?id=47843

    Why because they can under the Police immunity law fashioned under this Martinelli Government!

    “Panama where the numbers never add up”

  2. “He who fights and runs away will live to fight another day.”

    Martinelli is too shrewd to fight a battle he knows he won’t win. But megalomaniacs seldom give up. I agree with Okke, he will slip the necessary changes by the public while they are busy celebrating their victory against mining.

    He may have realized that he had not yet consolidated his forces of repression sufficiently to get away with a full out atrocity against his population. He is biding his time.

  3. That only the territory of the Ngöbe would (temporarily) be exempted from the horrors of open air mining already was an indication that elsewhere, mining plans were to continue in one way or another. This in contrast to Costa Rica, where the toxic and destructive practice for new projects has been banned.

    Investing in military equipment although Panama doesn’t have enemies to justify such expenditures, also could serve as a road sign that heavier battles are to be expected.

    If a majority of the population is against mining (in the sense of a sell-out that results in pollution and toxic deserts), and officially the govt receives little in compensation, one can only wonder who are at the receiving end, unofficially.

    Here, I haven’t heard a single person saying to be in favor of mining and when asking if there were any friends / relatives in favor, the answer always is “no”.

    Maybe mining in the capital is the better idea as it’s always possible to maintain it’s no more than preparative work for the metro.

  4. Pingback: Inmet: Minera Panama unaffected by repeal of law 8 | Bananama Republic

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