Hundreds of people burned tires and threw objects and shot at police, who fired back and used teargas to disperse the crowd. Local authorities instituted a 4 p.m. curfew. Local media reported as many as three dead, 16 injured, and 40 arrested, but police could not confirm that late on Friday.
At least one person, a 9-year-old boy, died on Friday in violent protests over a new law allowing the sale of state-owned land in a dilapidated port city within the duty-free zone next to the Panama Canal.
Several residents and police were also injured in Colon, Panama’s second-largest city, in a third day of protests against the plan, which the National Assembly approved early on Friday and President Ricardo Martinelli signed into law hours later.
Critics have denounced the government plan as an irresponsible political maneuver to cover government spending and keep the deficit low. They say selling the land will harm residents of Colon, which has one of the highest rates of poverty and crime in the tiny Central American country.