June 26 (UPI) -- Panama will extend its suspension of constitutional rights in Bocas del Toro province through June 29 in response to escalating anti-government protests that have left one person dead, more than 300 detained and dozens injured, including 14 police officers.
After two months of roadblocks, demonstrations and vandalism, Panama's Cabinet Council said it was necessary to temporarily restrict the constitutional rights to free assembly and movement in an effort to restore order in the region.
On June 20, the government issued a five-day decree suspending those rights and launched a special operation that deployed 1,500 additional police officers to the province.
Bocas del Toro has become the epicenter of a deep political and social crisis in Panama, sparked by mass protests following the approval of a pension system reform and a security cooperation memorandum signed by the Panamanian and U.S. governments.
While the government has presented the memorandum as a way to strengthen security and cooperation, many Panamanians see it as a surrender of national sovereignty and a sign of U.S. interference in the country's internal affairs.
