PANAMA CITY, Panama, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- Indigenous demonstrators in Panama, some armed with spears, clashed with police to protest a new copper mining law, officials said.
The British Broadcasting Corp. reported Saturday that members of the Guaymi indigenous group blocked traffic on a bridge outside of Panama City to protest the law that opens a portion of the Ngobe-Bugle rain forest to copper mining.
Protest leaders said police fired tear gas at innocent bystanders. Police said protesters were throwing stones at them.
Earlier in the week, police clashed with student groups protesting the mining law.
Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli said "no mining concessions or exploitation will be made" on lands granted to indigenous people. The government, however, has already opened the bidding for rights to mine for copper in Cerro Colorado, which is in the Ngobe-Bugle area, the BBC reported.
