A STRIKE  set for Monday, March 5 by distributors of 25-pound gas tanks was called off at noon on Friday, March 2, after the Government said it would not submit to blackmail.

According to The National Secretary of Energy, the distributors listened to the Government's demand to continue providing the service to citizens.

The authorities classified the suspension of the service as a "pressure measure" that “made hostages  of more than a million Panamanians  who use such tanks.”

The product subsidized by the State achieves 926,000 sales every month of the year. It is packaged by the Tropigas and Panagas companies and distributed through24 wholesale companies.

Organized consumer associations issued a statement demanding d "respect for their civil rights".