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Panama has declared an emergency in its main banana producing region, after the stores were looted and the vandalized buildings during current demonstrations against pension reform.
The government says that constitutional rights will be suspended for the next five days in the northwest province of Bocas del Toro.
The measure restricted freedom of movement and allows the police to make arrests without a mandate.
Problems in the region began a month ago when the local banana worker union joined a national protest against the proposed pension cuts and said a strike.
“Faced with the disruption of order and acts of systematic violence, the State will apply its constitutional mandate to guarantee peace,” said Juan Carlos Orillac, Minister of Presidency.
The measurement, he added, would make it possible to “save the province” from the radicals.
Demonstrations through the Latin American nation broke out in March on pensions reform.
In Bocas del Toro, the troubles were widely led by workers in a plantation of bananas Chiquita Brands.
The confrontation intensified last month after the company dismissed thousands of striking employees.
The demonstrators installed roadblocks in the province, often colliding with the police.
Earlier this week, crowds damaged one of the installations of the Chiquita brands as well as a local airport.
