Opposition Calls for Plebiscite to End Panama Crisis
Opposition leaders, citing a stalemate in talks with the government on Panama’s three-month-old political crisis, called Friday for a national referendum to let voters decide how to resolve the dispute.
At the same time, the government announced it had closed schools in three cities in the wake of Thursday’s fatal shooting of a 24-year-old student during an anti-government protest at the University of Panama.
According to witnesses, members of Panama’s Defense Forces opened fire on the student demonstrators, killing Luis Gonzales and wounding at least six others.
The students were protesting an Organization of American States proposal to end Panama’s political turmoil by holding a plebiscite Aug. 20.
The students and opposition parties insist that elections May 7, which their candidate Guillermo Endara won overwhelmingly, should be declared valid. The government of Manuel A. Noriega annulled the vote, claiming fraud.
An Education Ministry statement said public and private schools were being closed nationwide “until further notice . . . for the safety of students, to preserve the peace of mind of their families and peace throughout the community in general.”
University officials in a statement Friday accused the Defense Forces of acting “brutally against unarmed students.”
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