Formed in 2019, Juventudes Revolucionarias (Revolutionary Youth) has become a leading voice of youth resistance against foreign intervention, authoritarianism, and neoliberal policy in Panama. Photo courtesy JR-16/Instagram.

Since April, Panama has been gripped by anti-government protests. What began as a teachers’ strike has grown to include students, nurses, banana pickers, anti-mining activists, and Indigenous peoples. These Panamanians are united by a desire to protect the social rights of citizens and to secure Panamanian sovereignty from US imperialism and North American capital. These demands likely explain why the American and Canadian governments have remained silent regarding Panama’s mass upsurge of popular revolt—and the José Raúl Mulino government’s highly repressive response.

The Panamanian people are protesting a variety of policies pushed by the right-wing Mulino government, from a neoliberal social security reform called Law 462, to the labour policies of the American banana company Chiquita, to subservience toward the annexationist Trump administration, to the potential reopening of the widely disliked Cobre Panamá copper mine, owned by the Canadian company First Quantum Minerals.

Mulino’s police force has arrested hundreds, yet Canada and the US have remained silent. Instead of speaking out against the crackdown on protest, President Trump and Prime Minister Carney appear more focused on stability that favours continued North American economic interests in Panama.

Formed in 2019, Juventudes Revolucionarias (JR, or JR-16) is a socialist organization made up of young Panamanian revolutionaries. They have organized against undemocratic constitutional reforms, Canadian mining, and US imperialism. Now, they are engaged in resistance against the US-backed Mulino government.

On June 26, Canadian Dimension spoke with JR member Joyner Myron Sánchez about the history of the group, Panama’s tradition of anti-imperialism, and ongoing efforts by Mulino and the US government to repress Panamanians’ desire for meaningful national sovereignty. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Canadian Dimension (CD): The governments of the US and Canada have remained largely silent about the social uprising in Panama. As a result, many Canadians are unaware of the challenges Panamanians are currently facing. What do you think Canadians should know about the situation?

Joyner Myron Sánchez (JMS): Canadian people, and people in general, should know that we are living in a political situation that we consider a civil dictatorship. Why do we say that? If you disagree with the government, you may either go to jail or get murdered. This is not a new practice; however, the risk, the danger, is the worst that we have seen since the dictatorship that we had from 1968, into the 1970s, and through the 1980s.

This is the most important thing for people outside Panama to know: we are living in a right-wing dictatorship.

CD: When did JR-16 form?

JMS: JR was formed around 2019. The previous secretary general was named Omar Sandino.

In 2019, there were the first big protests of the past 30 years in Panama, since the period after the US invasion of 1989. At that time [2019], it was because of some reforms that the government of that moment was trying to make to the Panamanian constitution. There were a lot of young people. In the 30 years after the US invasion, there was a smaller number of young people in the streets. So we considered the importance of having an organization for young people. Because of Omar’s thinking, and my thinking, and the thinking of comrades at that time—we are Marxists—we decided to create JR as a Marxist-Leninist organization for young people.

In Panama, we didn’t have such things as youth organizations. In our history, it’s common to see university........

© Canadian Dimension