Central America

Central America’s biggest mine faces closure over tax spat

Photo: Luis Acosta / AFP

| By AFP | Francisco Jara |

Rising up through the lush vegetation of Panama’s Caribbean coast, a 125-meter chimney serves as a beacon for helicopters approaching the largest mine in Central America, which faces closure next week over a contract dispute.

Gigantic 400-tonne trucks slowly wind around the stepped slopes of a massive gash in the earth one kilometer wide, the ochre and grey of the copper mine standing in stark contrast to the verdant jungle surrounding it.

The activity could grind to an expensive halt in a matter of days.

Canadian mining giant First Quantum Minerals has until next Wednesday to sign a new contract with the government, which is demanding the company multiply the taxes it pays by 10.

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If the parties do not agree, the disagreement could halt the work of a mining project considered the largest private investment in Panama’s history, contributing four percent of the country’s GDP and 75 percent of export revenues.

“We have been given a deadline to sign the new contract by December 14, to accept the new terms,” First Quantum’s manager in Panama, Keith Green, who is Scottish, told AFP.

“We intend to reach an agreement, but negotiations are a bit deadlocked,” he added.

First Quantum, one of the largest copper miners in the world, began commercial copper production at the site in Donoso in 2019, through its subsidiary Minera Panama.

It has spent $10 billion on earthworks, construction buildings to house more than 7,000 employees, the purchase of heavy machinery, a power plant, a port for deep-draft merchant ships, access roads, and re-forestation plans.

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‘Fair income’

President Laurentino Cortizo in January announced plans to toughen the conditions of the mining license, with a new contract that would oblige the mining company to pay “at least” $375 million to Panama annually — ten times what it is currently paying.

“Panama has the inalienable right to receive fair income from the extraction of its mineral resources, because the copper is Panamanian,” he said.

This mine is “the biggest in Central America,” producing 300,000 tons of copper concentrate per year, said Green.

The deposit, discovered in 1968, lies on the Caribbean coast, 240 kilometers by road from the capital Panama City.

The company, listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, built the Punta Rincon International Port next to the mine to transport the copper by ship, due to a lack of roads connecting the Colon port, 40 kilometers (25 miles) away.

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Despite the uncertainty over the mine’s future, activity has not slowed and the company has continued to invest in the site.

A new 200-tonne drilling rig — as tall as a three-story building — was inaugurated in a ceremony on Tuesday, causing heavy air traffic.

Helicopter pilot Oldemar Arauz explains that most officials visiting the mine prefer the one-hour air trip to the four-hour drive on a narrow road from the capital.

The drilling rig, made in the United States by the Swedish company Epiroc, cost $6 million, and was transported to the mine in 10 trucks.

“Latin America has 200 of these drills, 50 in Chile and now three in Panama,” said Epiroc’s Latin America manager Hans Traub.

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The drill was assembled by Chilean engineer Alex Gonzalez, who previously worked in Chuquicamata, the world’s largest open pit copper mine, situated in the Atacama desert, which has been operating since 1915.

Central America does not have the same mining tradition seen further south. Mining is illegal in Costa Rica and El Salvador, and while there is much potential for growth in Panama, the industry’s future is now hanging in the balance.

Related Topics:Central America Mine Panamá

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Central America

Panama and OECD sign deal to boost investment climate and global integration

The Government of Panama and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) signed an agreement this Friday in Paris aimed at improving the country’s investment climate through data exchange, expert missions, and policy benchmarking.

“This is not a symbolic act. It is a strategic decision. A statement of intent. A commitment to transformation,” said Panama’s Foreign Minister, Javier Martínez-Acha, following the signing, according to an official statement.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by Martínez-Acha and OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann at the organization’s headquarters in the French capital.

According to Panama’s Foreign Ministry, the agreement establishes “a solid and forward-looking framework for cooperation,” enabling high-level technical collaboration through data sharing, comparative policy analysis, expert missions, and evidence-based recommendations.

Authorities stated that the initiative is expected to enhance the investment environment, boost competitiveness, and improve predictability, while also strengthening governance, fostering innovation, increasing human capital, and aligning the education system with global economic demands.

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The agreement also opens the door for Panama to deepen its participation within OECD bodies, allowing the country to take part in discussions where global standards are defined.

Since taking office in July 2024, President José Raúl Mulino has prioritized efforts to remove Panama from international lists that label it as a tax haven, which his administration considers discriminatory.

As part of this strategy, the government restricted the participation of most European companies—except those from Spain, Italy, and Greece—in public tenders for major infrastructure projects, including a planned railway to the border with Costa Rica and a gas pipeline near the Panama Canal. This move came after the European Union kept Panama on its list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes.

Over the past year, Panama has made progress in this area, including its removal from the European Parliament’s money laundering list and Ecuador’s tax haven list.

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Central America

Guatemala court overturns arrest warrants against former CICIG officials

Indigenous leaders in Guatemala announce increased protests

Colombian Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo and current ambassador to the Vatican Iván Velásquez were both members of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, a UN-backed body created to investigate corruption networks within the Guatemalan state between 2007 and 2019.

Investigations led by the CICIG resulted in the imprisonment of high-ranking officials. According to international organizations, the arrest warrants issued against Camargo and Velásquez were seen as retaliation for their anti-corruption work.

In mid-2025, an appeals court in Guatemala ordered their detention after prosecutors accused them of obstruction of justice and influence peddling, among other charges. The ruling alleged that they had favored business figures linked to Odebrecht who were under investigation.

However, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court later ruled that the lower court had “overstepped its authority” by issuing the arrest warrants illegally, according to local media reports.

Camargo and Velásquez had immunity due to their roles within a United Nations-backed entity.

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“A month before the end of the term of the corrupt attorney general, Consuelo Porras, it seems the situation is beginning to change in Guatemala,” Velásquez wrote on social media.

Porras—sanctioned by the United States Government and the European Union over allegations of corruption and anti-democratic actions—is set to leave office on May 16 unless she is reappointed by President Bernardo Arévalo, with whom she has been at odds after attempting to block his inauguration two years ago.

The CICIG was unilaterally dissolved by former Guatemalan president Jimmy Morales (2016–2020).

Central America

Honduras police launch high-impact operations amid security concerns

The director of the Policía Nacional de Honduras, Rigoberto Oseguera, presented a recent assessment of the country’s security situation and announced the deployment of high-impact operations in the department of Olancho.

The police chief identified the municipality of Choloma, in the department of Cortés, as one of the most critical areas for crime at a regional level. This comes despite an overall downward trend in violence across the Valle de Sula.

Oseguera also noted that the Central District—comprising Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela—records a high number of homicides. However, he explained that the rate remains comparatively low due to population density, although crime levels in Francisco Morazán still require special attention.

He added that the police have deployed five tactical intervention teams across key regions, including Valle de Sula, Olancho, Francisco Morazán, and the southern part of the country. In addition, authorities have identified multiple criminal incidents in the municipality of Concordia.

“It is a serious situation. These are long-standing social problems in the region, but it is time to act and not make excuses,” Oseguera emphasized.