The Secretary of Organization and Strengthening of the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (CSA), Marcelo Di Stefano, stated today that Panama heads the regional list of states violating human rights, which has led to lawsuits in various international bodies.
Di Stefano made his statements at a press conference in the Panamanian capital as part of a seminar addressing the social and political challenges for the country's working class following months of police and judicial repression.
Di Stefano emphasized that the abuses committed in 2025 by agents of President José Raúl Mulino's government include the freezing of union bank accounts, the arbitrary detention of union leaders, and torture.
In this regard, he accused the Ministry of Labor and Labor Development of "interfering in union structures to finance divisionism".
The legal actions taken include reports to the European Parliament and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) regarding the persecution of banana workers and violations of freedom of association affecting public servants.
Di Stefano described a new government decree regulating strikes as "arbitrary" and argued that it not only affects public services but also "practically all service and production activities" in Panama, in clear violation of international conventions.
According to the leader, following massive protests against reforms to the Social Security System (CSS), elements of the repressive security forces sexually violated men and women to humiliate them.
"There has been a systematic attack since Mulino took office in Panama against trade union organizations, which has resulted in a balance of union leaders detained, asylum seekers, exiles, and union leaders serving prison sentences in high-security prisons, under house arrest, and hundreds of union leaders prosecuted in a process of judicializing protest," the leader emphasized.
He also predicted that "sooner or later, the perpetrators of the outrages committed against the labor movement in this country will receive the punishment they deserve and will not escape justice and the demands filed with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)".
Indeed, the CSA filed complaints with the International Labour Organization (ILO) for non-compliance with conventions 87, 98, and 144.
At the end of the conference, the workers who participated in the training seminar launched slogans of union unity and committed to preparing to face greater challenges in the immediate future.
