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 News from Around the Americas | November 2005 
Panama: Angry Banana Growers Await Bush
 Prensa Latina
| | A worker plants some 200 hundred Panamanian flags in Ciudad del Saber as preparations are made for the celebration of their independence as well as for the visit of George Bush. (AP Photo/Tito Herrera) |
Panama - A US presidential visit to Panama may be received by angry banana growers in front of that country´s embassy here.
George W. Bush will arrive in this capital next Sunday for a less-than-24-hour visit, and although the government has worked hard to present the US statesman´s stopover as a step forward in bilateral relations, rejection prevails.
The Cooperative of Multiple Services of Puertos Armuelles (COOSEMUPAR), in the province of Chiriqu¡, has some issues with the US transnational banana company Chiquita Brands International, and has asked the Panamanian government to get back four million dollars worth of agricultural, technical and accounting consultancy it rendered for two years.
If not, they may have to lay off 2,000 workers, which would benefit the US firm, according to Panamanian trade union leaders.
"The company is bankrupt, banana workers are hungry and there is danger of an outburst," trade union leader Salustiano de Gracia told Prensa Latina.
De Gracia said they will also demand fair taxes on bananas, after the World Trade Organization (WTO) and European Union are still unable to work out an equitable formula for Latin American exporters.
"If we do not receive a rapid response to our demands, the workers will protest on Tuesday before the US Embassy in Panama," De Gracia stressed. |
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