Indigenous clash with police in Panama

PANAMA CITY, Feb 19, AFP

Several dozen indigenous Panamanians armed with spears, sticks and stones clashed with riot police Friday, disrupting traffic on the Pan-American Highway to protest recent changes to the country's mining law.

Authorities said several police were wounded when the protest on the outskirts of Panama City turned ugly as they tried to clear the way for traffic across a bridge that had been occupied since dawn by members of the Ngobe-Bugle ethnic group.

The indigenous groups have complained that the reformed law untouched since the 1960s would spoil pristine rainforest areas and force Indian communities to relocate.Demonstrators confronted authorities with spears, arrows, shells and rocks. Some 200 police responded with tear gas, causing panic and a brief stampede of onlookers nearby.

"We have been blocking the bridge and the police are attacking us," one indigenous man told AFP when he was arrested near the Pacora River as he tried to escape a police barricade.

"We voted for (President Ricardo) Martinelli, but here God has to do something because we need justice," he said.Jose Castillo, head of Metropolitan Police, confirmed that several police officers were slightly wounded in the confrontation, and that seven people were arrested "for verification" purposes.

Lawmakers last week approved the legislation aimed at attracting foreign investment to its mining industry, despite opposition from students and indigenous groups.

President Ricardo Martinelli and his supporters in the national assembly argue that mining could be Panama's second largest source of income after fees from the Panama Canal. It becomes law with Martinelli's signature.

The government recently opened for tenders a copper deposit in Cerro Colorado, in Ngobe-Bugle territory.

Experts believe there are 17 million tons of copper at the site, equivalent to three years of copper production in Chile, the world's largest copper producer.

Companies based in Canada, South Korea and Singapore have shown interest in investing.

Martinelli went on television to insist that "no mining concession or exploitation will be made in a district in any area" of indigenous lands."Do not be fooled by people who want to take political advantage of this and cause chaos and unrest," he added.

At least eight people were injured Tuesday when riot police clashed with students opposing the proposed changes.On Monday police fired tear gas and rubber bullets on hundreds of Indians protesting in the southwestern town of San Felix. Nineteen people were arrested.Last summer, protests against a similar proposal caused two deaths and 100 injuries, after which the plan was shelved.