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A series of protests began in Panama on 20 October 2023 following the immediate passing of a 20 to 40-years mining contract between the government of Panama and First Quantum Minerals, the operator of Cobre Panamá, the largest open-pit copper mine in Central America, located 20 minutes away from the western coast of Colon Province within a protected area of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor.

Demonstrations started in Panama City shortly after Laurentino Cortizo, the president of Panama, signed into law the mining contract approved by the National Assembly, in a 42-5 vote, in less than 12 hours. The protests and road closures were expanded nationwide as soon as the public learned of the suspicious details related to the approval of the mining contract and its controversial content. The main centers of the demonstrations included Panama City, Colón, La Chorrera, Penonomé, Santiago and David, with massive demonstrations for many days, as well as multiple road closures throughout the Pan-American Highway and other minor Panamanian roads.

President Laurentino Cortizo and his administration appeared multiple times on national television discussing the protests and the economic impact of the road closures, justifying their approval of the mining contract, without significant progress being made in reducing anger of the public. Eventually, the president proposed a national referendum on whetever to preserve the mining contract, but it was rejected by the public, lawyers and the Electoral Tribunal following numerous concerns. An initiative of repeling the mining contract with a new law, initially approved by the National Assembly, was later overthrown by consensus as the declaration of unconstitutionality by the Supreme Court would be more appropriate to defend the country in an eventual international arbitration process.

Following weeks of protests, the National Assembly approved a bill suspending new mining concessions in Panamanian territory on 3 November 2023, that was immediately signed into law by President Laurentino Cortizo. Meanwhile, First Quantum Minerals was forced to reduce their operations in Cobre Panamá due to the blockades in the street and the International Port of Punta Rincón, the exporting point of the mine, by fishermen of the Donoso District.

On 28 November 2023, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled the mining contract as unconstitutional, indicating that it violated numerous articles of the Constitution. The ruling of the Supreme Court was received with nationwide support, and celebrations erupted throughout the country; First Quantum Minerals, however, indicated that they were going to review the ruling. On the same day, President Cortizo told the public that his administration will ensure the "safe and orderly closure of the mine", in compliance with the ruling.

A total of four people died in the protests. Two of them died in traffic incidents while attempting to close roads; the remaining two victims, a teacher and another teacher's husband, were fatally shot in a road closure in Chame District by an elderly man with dual citizenship.

Prior to 2021
Cobre Panamá is the largest open-pit copper mine in Central America. The exploration process for the mine was started during the presidency of Guillermo Endara, who assumed office on 20 December 1989 as the first elected president of Panama since Arnulfo Arias in 1968.

Final contract
The mining contract between the Government of Panama and First Quantum Minerals (the operator of Cobre Panamá), officially known as Law 406 of 20 October 2023, was approved in a 42-5 vote by the National Assembly of Panama on 20 October 2023 and signed into law by President Laurentino Cortizo later that same day. The contract was negotiated by Federico Alfaro, Minister of Commerce and Industries, and Manuel Aizpurúa, the legal representative of First Quantum Minerals. It is essentially a re-negotiation of the original mining contract, approved on 26 February 1997 by the National Assembly during the presidency of Ernesto Pérez Balladares, and struck down by the Supreme Court on 21 December 2017 (although it was officially announced on 22 December 2021).

Timeline
On 20 October 2023, the National Assembly approved in third debate a bill that would legalize the mining contract between the government of Panama and First Quantum Minerals, the operator of Cobre Panamá, the largest open-pit copper mine in Central America, located 20 minutes away from the western coast of Colon Province within a protected area related to the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor. The final vote was 42-5, with all but one of the present members from the governing parties PRD and MOLIRENA (as well as two members of the Panameñista Party and 7 members of the former president Ricardo Martinelli's supporting coalition of Democratic Change) voting in favour of the mining contract, and a total of five parliamentarians opposing it: Zulay Rodríguez (the only ❌ No vote from the PRD), and the non-affiliated members Edison Broce, Raúl Fernández, Gabriel Silva and Juan Diego Vásquez. Another four parliamentarians opposed the mining contract in the second debate, but were not present in the final vote.

President Laurentino Cortizo signed the mining contract into law within 12 hours following the National Assembly vote, and it was published in the government gazette soon after. Demonstrations started in Panama City and most major cities in the country following the announcement, as people learned from social media and online newspapers the corrupt process that took place prior to the approval of the mining contract and the dangerous impact of an open-pit mine on environment.

Supreme Court decision
The 9 justices of Supreme Court of Justice, through a ruling announced on 28 November 2023, unanimously declared the new mining contract as unconstitutional. The Supreme Court of Justice released a 234-page document containing the arguments of the plaintiff, the Administration Attorney, and opinions from numerous lawyers in support or oppostion of the unconstitutionality of the mining contract between the Government of Panama and First Quantum Minerals.

Even though the plaintiff and the Administration Attorney, Rigoberto González, initially argumented that the mining contract violated 8 articles of the Constitution of Panama, the justices determined that it actually violated 25 articles. The Supreme Court said that both the National Assembly and the administration of Laurentino Cortizo surpassed their authorities and infringed numerous preexisting regulations concerning mining, environmental and public procurement law, favoring the interests of First Quantum Minerals over the public opinion and explicitly avoided regulations concerning the negotiation of contracts involving natural resources.

In total, the Supreme Court ruled that the mining contract violated 25 articles of the Constitution of Panama: articles 4, 17, 18, 19, 20, 32, 43, 46, 56, 109, 118, 119, 120, 121, 124, 159 (sections 10 and 15), 163 (section 1), 200 (section 3), 257 (section 5), 258, 259, 266, 285, 286 and 298. Therefore, the Supreme Court struck down again the mining contract and ordered the government to shut down the operations of Cobre Panamá.

Unconstitutionality arguments
The plaintiff lawyer, Juan Ramón Sevillano Callejas, presented the following arguments concerning the unconstitutionality of the mining contract:

The Administration Attorney, Rigoberto González, who is responsible for overseeing government ethics and representing it in legal procedures, issued an opinion to the Supreme Court on 1 November 2023, requesting the judges to declare the mining contract as unconstitutional. He sided with the plaintiff in his arguments and expanded them:
 * The mining contract violated the article 257 of the Constitution. The administration of Laurentino Cortizo ignored the regulations of the Public Procurement Law by assigning the mining concession to First Quantum Minerals without a fair public tender. Therefore, it also violated the Cabinet Decree No. 267 of 21 August 1969, approved by the provisional military junta (following the 1968 coup d'état), which established legal procedures for mining concessions in the deposit area of Petaquilla, the current placement of Cobre Panamá.
 * The mining contract violated the article 259 of the Constitution. The administration of Laurentino Cortizo did not consider the collective interest of the Panamanian people and rather favored the economic interests of First Quantum Minerals by conceding them numerous and unregulated rights, exonerations and tax breaks.
 * The mining contract violated the article 266 of the Constitution. The administration of Laurentino Cortizo ignored the previous 2017 ruling of the Supreme Court of Justice, which explicitly required the government to follow current public procurement regulations for the mining concession currently held by First Quantum Minerals.

The 9 justices of the Supreme Court of Justice started a permanent session on 24 November 2023 to examine arguments of the plaintiff, Juan Ramón Sevillano Callejas, and the Administration Attorney, Rigoberto González; as well as 90 opinions of numerous lawyers and the public in support or opposition of the unconstitutionality of the mining contract.
 * The Administration Attorney considers that the mining contract violated both the article 257 and 259 of the Constitution, for the reasons previously explained by the plaintiff.
 * The Administration Attorney considers that the mining contract violated the article 159 (section 15) of the Constitution. The National Assembly approved the contract without a prior evaluation of its content, based on the existing regulations concerning public procurement and mining concessions.
 * The Administration Attorney considers that the mining contract, by violating the article 266 of the Constitution (as explained by the plaintiff in his arguments), also violated the article 4. The administration of Laurentino Cortizo ignored the current public procurement regulations and, therefore, denied the public the right to express its opinion and know the information concerning the mining contract until its publication as law.
 * Additionally, the mining contract violated the article 4 of the Constitution by violating preexisting environmental laws in both national legislation and international law, as the mining concession is located within a protected area related to the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor.
 * The Administration Attorney considers that the mining contract violated the article 258 of the Constitution. The mining contract explicitly conceded First Quantum Minerals exclusive rights over the air space and public land surrounding Cobre Panamá, which is considered a violation of the Panamanian sovereignty.
 * The Administration Attorney considers that the mining contract violated the article 290 of the Constitution. The mining contract explicitly authorized First Quantum Minerals to legally appropriate public and private lands for the concession currently held in Cobre Panamá.