Central America
Central America’s biggest mine faces closure over tax spat
| 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.
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.
‘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.
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.
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.
Central America
Guatemala Declares Highest Alert in Areas Affected by Fuego Volcano Eruption
Guatemalan authorities declared a red alert, the highest level of danger, on Tuesday in areas affected by the eruption of the Fuego Volcano, located about 35 kilometers from the country’s capital.
The most active volcano in Central America entered an eruptive phase on Monday morning, and its activity intensified overnight with lava emissions and large columns of gas and ash.
No fatalities have been reported, but the volcanic activity forced the evacuation of around 500 people as a precautionary measure.
The National Coordination for Disaster Reduction (Conred) declared a state of emergency in the departments of Sacatepéquez, Chimaltenango and Escuintla, the agency announced through its official X account.
The affected regions are home to approximately 1.6 million people. However, ashfall has so far impacted only about five municipalities.
Despite the increase in the alert level, authorities reopened a road leading to the city of Antigua, the country’s main tourist destination, after evaluating safety conditions in the area.
The Fuego Volcano is one of Guatemala’s most active geological formations and has a history of frequent eruptions, requiring continuous monitoring by national emergency agencies.
Central America
U.S. Defense Secretary to Close Multinational Military Exercises in Panama to Protect Canal
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will travel to Panama next week to close multinational military exercises involving more than 20 countries aimed at strengthening security measures for the Panama Canal against potential threats, a Panamanian government official announced Monday.
This will mark Hegseth’s second visit to Panama. The U.S. defense chief is expected to arrive on August 13 for the closing ceremony of the military drills, which began this week and have been conducted in the Central American country for more than two decades to support the protection of the interoceanic waterway, according to Panama’s Security Minister Frank Ábrego.
The exercises include participation from the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru and the United Kingdom, among other nations.
“The canal is a strategic infrastructure that connects markets and supports global supply chains. Its security and uninterrupted operation are of fundamental importance for Panama, the United States and the international community,” said U.S. Ambassador to Panama Kevin Marino Cabrera.
The drills include maritime training operations, exercises in jungle areas surrounding the canal, as well as virtual simulations focused on cybersecurity and strategic planning.
The Panama Canal, one of the world’s most important trade routes, handles approximately 5% of global maritime commerce, making its security a priority for international trade and logistics networks.
Ábrego emphasized that preparedness and international coordination are essential to maintaining stability.
“The best way to preserve peace and guarantee the continuity of global trade is to be prepared to respond in a coordinated and effective manner to any threat,” the Panamanian official said.
Central America
Prosecutors Accuse Ex-Defense Minister of Undermining Press Freedom in Honduras
Honduras’ Public Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday filed criminal charges against retired General Roosevelt Hernández, the country’s former defense minister and former chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, over his alleged role in actions that prosecutors say undermined press freedom and freedom of expression.
Prosecutors said the case was brought by the Special Prosecutor’s Office for the Protection of Journalists, Social Communicators, Human Rights Defenders and Justice Officials following an investigation into content published between 2025 and 2026 on a digital media platform operated by the Honduran Armed Forces.
According to the investigation, the publications were reported by journalists and the Honduran Journalists Association (CPH), which described them as part of an alleged campaign to discredit members of the press and media organizations.
The case dates back to May 2025, when the CPH filed complaints with national and international organizations after the Armed Forces referred to three journalists as “hitmen” in an article published by FF.AA. Digital. The association argued that the publication endangered the journalists’ safety and constituted an attack on press freedom.
The journalists identified in the publication as “hitmen of the truth” were Rodrigo Wong Arévalo, director of the television news program Abriendo Brecha; Dagoberto Rodríguez, director of Radio Cadena Voces; and Juan Carlos Sierra, president of the Honduran Journalists Association. The article also included photographs of the three journalists and the CPH’s logo.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office said the case file includes formal complaints, pretrial investigative proceedings, a specialized forensic analysis of audiovisual and digital material, and witness testimony gathered during the investigation to determine whether the publications violated freedom of expression and the exercise of journalism.
Authorities emphasized that freedom of the press and freedom of expression are protected under the Honduran Constitution as well as international treaties ratified by the country.
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