---
title: "May Day March in Panama Combines Labor Demands With Suntracs Backlash"
date: 2026-05-01
author: ""
url: https://panamadaily.news/panama-labor-march-may-day/
categories:
  - "News"
  - "Politics"
tags:
  - "May Day"
  - "Panama Canal"
  - "Panama labor march"
  - "Rio Indio"
  - "Suntracs"
---

# May Day March in Panama Combines Labor Demands With Suntracs Backlash

## What Happened

Workers’ groups took to the streets in Panama City on May 1 to mark International Workers’ Day with a march from Parque Porras to the 5 de Mayo area. The demonstration brought together construction unions, teachers’ organizations, public employees, and peasant movements.

Participants used banners and chants to press for better labor conditions, reject foreign interference, and denounce what they described as a broader campaign of persecution against the labor movement.

## Río Indio Communities Join the Demonstration

Representatives from Río Indio also joined the march, making visible their opposition to the planned construction of a water reservoir for the Panama Canal. Their presence added a local environmental and community dimension to an event that was already centered on labor rights and public dissent.

Their signs reflected concern about the canal-related project and its impact on surrounding communities, placing the reservoir debate alongside the day’s broader labor demands.

## Suntracs Under Scrutiny

Union leaders also addressed the detention and judicial proceedings involving several members of the Sindicato Único Nacional de Trabajadores de la Industria de la Construcción y Similares, known as Suntracs. The union has been at the center of one of the country’s most visible labor conflicts.

Among those facing criminal cases are Jaime Caballero and Saúl Méndez. Both are being investigated over alleged money laundering tied to a labor dispute connected to the Red Frog tourism project on Bastimentos Island in Bocas del Toro.

Caballero is under house arrest in Boquete, Chiriquí. Méndez, who served as Suntracs secretary general, sought asylum in Bolivia and remained there from May 21 to July 19, 2025. He later left that country, and Panamanian judicial authorities issued a red Interpol notice to locate him. He is believed to be in Venezuela.

## Why the March Matters

The May Day mobilization showed how labor concerns in Panama continue to intersect with politics, judicial action, and disputes over development projects. The presence of unions, teachers, public workers, and rural groups underscored a wide coalition of complaints that extend beyond wages to include union rights and state policy.

As Panama marked another International Workers’ Day, the march served as both a traditional labor commemoration and a public display of discontent over current tensions facing organized labor.