The Minister of Labor, Doris Zapata has confirmed that talks with Minera Panamá are currently suspended so that the company complies with the care and maintenance plan that has been requested.

Therefore,  she said, the National Government is respecting the legal terms that have been given to the subsidiary.

She added that the mining company has been establishing its resources and the Government is supporting the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of the Environment in the process.

Last week, the Minister of the Environment, Milciades Concepción , confirmed that Minera Panamá requested to make the environmental measures that had already been agreed upon more flexible.

Minera Panamá requested more land to operate the mine, according to the environment minister

Among those measures would be obtaining more land to operate the mine, which would represent more deforestation.

According to Concepción,  the Government "has not given in to these requests ."

On  December 19, 2022, the National Government, in compliance with the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice, by which the 1997 contract was declared unconstitutional, ordered  Minera Panama to prepare a plan to put the mine under care and maintenance. 

The Government has said that, throughout this process, it has worked with international and Panamanian legal advisers , preparing for all possible scenarios, in order to guarantee the defense of national interests and the rights of mine workers.