Panama

News Alert: Two indigenous Ngöbe-Buglé men were killed and dozens more injured in connection with a police crackdown on dissent over mining and hydroelectric developments in Panama, where Canadian mining companies have a significant presence.

News item: While Toronto-based Inmet is widely distributing news of the approval of its ESIA by Panamanian environmental authorities in order to pave the way for further investment in the project, the company is ignoring a decision made one day earlier by the country's Supreme Court of Justice to maintain the protected status of the area.

Letter to the Editor: This week in a letter to the editor of Corporate Knights magazine, the Executive Director of the Panama's Environmental Advocacy Centre says that Toronto-based Inmet is using its inclusion on Corporate Knight's 2011 list of "Canada's Best 50 Corporate Citizens" as part of "a misleading public relations campaign." Although the award was purportedly designed to encourage Corporate Social Responsibility, he says that in this case, "[listing Inmet] has served to hinder best practices rather than promote them."

Canada moves to support mining investment in Panama in the face of mounting human rights abuse by the Panamanian government and concerted opposition from Indigenous peoples, affected communities, and environmental groups. "The agreement as negotiated presents a very real risk of entrenching an ineffective and possibly irresponsible regulatory regime by protecting investments from tougher environmental or fiscal measures."