Two people taking part in a demonstration against the extension of a mining contract with Canadian mining company First Quantum Minerals were shot dead in Panama on Tuesday afternoon.
According to local media reports, Abdiel Diaz and Iván Mendoza were taking part in a blockade of the Pan-American Highway in Chame when they were attacked and shot.
In a video distributed by various media outlets, including the EFE news agency, the suspect can be seen walking towards the group of protesters and seemingly asking them to leave. After a few seconds, he pulled a pistol out of his pocket and pointed it at the protesters before beginning to move a barricade of tires and rocks erected on the highway.
When confronted by the protesters, he eventually opened fire. One victim falls to the ground, a second holds his shoulder and grimaces in pain.
Despite the seriousness of his crime, the murderer continued to clear the street as the panicked crowd watched. He was eventually arrested by police without further bloodshed.
Warning: The images in this video may shock you:
#Chame / When we could not advance the cause of the road, the victim was killed by the car, taken to the protesters and disappeared on their backs. One of the fatal victims will be an educator and another will be the hope of an educator. Video EFE / Carlos Lemos pic.twitter.com/T5pacQb2yx
— La Prensa Panama (@prensacom) November 7, 2023
One of the men died at the scene of the accident and the second in hospital. Mr. Diaz was a teacher at a school in the area, while Mr. Mendoza was the spouse of a teacher at the same school.
The suspect in the murders, Kenneth Darlington, was identified as a U.S. attorney. According to local media, he was arrested for weapons possession in 2005. He was also the spokesman for fallen Panamanian tycoon Marc Harris, whose investment firm The Harris Organization collapsed following money laundering allegations.
The two protesters shot dead on Tuesday rejected the renewal of the operating contract for the Cobre Panamá mine, a gigantic open-air copper mine that is one of the largest in the world. It is operated by Minera Panamá, a mining company that is owned by the Canadian company First Quantum Minerals.
Opponents of extending the contract, which is valid for the next 20 years, consider the latter to be too cheap for the company. They also denounce the mine’s environmental impact.