*Banana company Chiquita Panamá, the local subsidiary of multinational banana company Chiquita Brands International, has warned that the losses it has sustained due to the nationwide strike in Panama which began on 23 April, now exceed US$10m, with the firm unable to export over 900,000 boxes of bananas. In a statement it warns that the damage caused to banana plantations as a result of the strike “not only means that unharvested fruit will be lost… but future harvests will also be affected”. It also warns that if the situation continues, the jobs of 6,000 workers will be affected along with over 24,000 indirect jobs generated by the banana industry, which is the main employer in the north-western Bocas del Toro banana-growing province. The banana firm previously highlighted on 6 May that bananas are the country’s leading export, “accounting for 17.6% of total exports in the first months of the year”. Other sectors such as the hospitality sector have also expressed alarm regarding the impact of the strike which is being staged by unions such the powerful construction workers’ union Sindicato Único Nacional de Trabajadores de la Construcción y Similares (Suntracs) against the government led by President José Raúl Mulino over various issues. These include the recently approved social security (CSS) reform, and security agreements struck last month with the US government led by President Donald Trump.
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