The recently concluded year of 2025 in Panama was marked by a prolonged cycle of mobilizations, strikes, and protests driven by unions and popular organizations—a struggle for social demands that their leaders affirm continues today.

The collectives challenged economic policies and international agreements of President José Raúl Mulino's government, generating social tensions and varied responses from authorities.

Unions and guilds, led by the Single Union of Construction Workers and Similar Trades (Suntracs), teachers' associations, and other social organizations, carried out months of intense campaigning through mobilizations, stoppages, and national strikes. These actions rejected reforms such as Law 462 of the Social Security Fund (CSS).

This law, according to union leaders, reduces pensions and opens the door to privatizing the system. They also challenged security and sovereignty agreements with the United States, like a memorandum signed in April authorizing the presence of troops and establishment of military bases—a claim denied by the Executive Branch.

In April and May 2025, urban centers and several provinces experienced days of protest that included 24-hour strikes, pickets, and marches. Unionists, teachers, healthcare workers, students, and indigenous peoples demanded the repeal of the CSS reform, the defense of labor rights, and the rejection of agreements deemed harmful to national sovereignty.

Demands extended beyond the labor sphere into the social and political arena. Popular sectors denounced that the Executive's measures endangered the social security of millions of Panamanians and criticized agreements with foreign powers that, in their view, could compromise sovereignty and national development.

The government's response included repression of protests. Authorities defended the legality of the CSS reform and labeled some strike actions as contrary to the Labor Code, urging the population not to paralyze economic activities.

Furthermore, throughout the year, organizations such as the National Confederation of Independent Union Unity (Conusi) denounced attacks on trade union freedom and freedom of association, citing detentions of leaders, legal proceedings against activists, and employer retaliation.

Organizations like the International Federation of Journalists and the International Labour Organization (ILO) expressed concern over potential violations of the right to strike and demanded the Panamanian government effectively respect labor and protest rights.

Analysts have described the 2025 social and union movement as one of the most significant in recent decades in Panama. Sustained mobilizations revealed profound tensions between social demands and government policies, creating a contentious dialogue scenario between organizations and the Executive.

Amid what they consider political persecution, groups defended the average minimum wage at the end of 2025 against maneuvers by the Ministry of Labor and Workforce Development, headed by Jackeline Muñoz.

Suntracs and Conusi also held their respective ordinary congresses and elected new leadership.

During this period, the Broad Front for Democracy (FAD) party, representing leftist forces, was officially constituted. In a separate constitutive forum, it also elected its new president, economist Maribel Gordón.

In this landscape, both Méndez and Gordón have called for defending democracy through the ballot box, while not neglecting vindictive struggles in the streets.

Looking ahead to 2026, they also opposed the Executive's interest in reopening the Donoso (Colón) copper mine. This comes despite a 2023 Supreme Court ruling that declared the contract between the State and the Canadian transnational First Quantum unconstitutional and ordered the cessation of its operations—a result of a wave of popular protests that paralyzed the country.