Protests continued Monday in Colon, Panama, over a law that allows for the sale of land in the Colon Free Trade Zone, according to the English-news Website Panama Guide.
The Associated Press reported Friday that a 10-year-old boy was killed during violent protests in the city, at the Caribbean end of the Panama Canal.
AP said rioting came a few hours after the National Assembly approved
legislation permitting the sale of land to private
companies already leasing land there to handle the import and export of
goods. President Ricardo Martinelli signed the law hours later.
The BBC said the law provides for 35 percent of the proceeds generated by the sale of land will go to a trust for “social investments” in the area, while 65 percent will go the central government in the Central American nation.
But the AP said protesters want the government to raise rents and “invest the money in Colon, a poor and violent city.” It said about 2,000 companies in the zone employ 30,000 people.
Riots shake FTZ in Colon, Panama
