Panama’s Investor-Friendly Image at Risk From Anti-Mining Rage
- Deal with Canadian-owned mine triggered mass protests
- Government may lose one of its biggest sources of revenue
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Panama’s reputation as an investor-friendly haven is at risk from attempts to shut a giant Canadian-owned copper mine, the latest case of a commodities project triggering social unrest in Latin America.
Faced with an explosion of popular rage that paralyzed the country last week, the government caved to protesters’ demands for a referendum on whether to scrap a multibillion dollar deal with First Quantum Minerals Ltd., which it had approved just days earlier.