Last Updated on November 24, 2025
Panama’s national security forces are reported to have used live ammunition on Indigenous Ngäbe protesters in the province of Bocas del Toro, killing at least one and seriously injuring another.
National Police crowd control units and military-style SENAFRONT border forces have been moving against indigenous protesters, supported by helicopters and drones, as the unpopular government of President Mulino seeks to privatize social security and to dam the Indio River.
According to Tele Comarcas, Tele Comarcas, a Ngäbe-Buglé news organization, the protester “was shot—right in front of the other young men who were making such an effort. It was a SENAFRONT officer who fired the bullet. It happened right there, so close. The young man fell to the ground… and then a patrol ran over him. There’s evidence, someone has it, and I’ll send it out tomorrow, God willing, for the investigation or whatever may come.”
Panama’s Deputy Minister of Public Security, Luis Felipe Icaza, confirmed that an incident had occurred in Rambála in the district of Chiriquí Grande, Bocas del Toro, on June 17, 2025.
“A citizen was found lying on the road, amid the protests” with a back wound, according to Icaza. In the government’s version the protester was given first aid and then taken to a hospital where he was “pronounced dead”.
Icaza claimed that police officers, “in these public order type of events, do not use lethal weapons.”
Police deny using live ammunition to subdue protests in Bocas del Toro, Panama. (Source: Tele Comarcas)
The deputy director of the National Police, Jorge Domínguez, has repeated the claim that paramedics provided medical assistance at the scene.
“Crowd control used irritant gases to disperse the crowd. Later, approximately 100 meters away, our units observed a person lying on the ground. Our combat paramedics provided first aid for a back wound, and he was immediately transported to the hospital, where doctors confirmed his death.”
“The Ministry of Public Security has placed itself at the disposal of the competent authorities for all investigations arising from this case,” Domínguez said.
But according to Tele Comarcas no police or SENAFRONT units aided the injured in Rambála. Instead, protesters were beaten, mistreated, and shot at with live ammunition, allegedly with the aim of quietly eliminating the strikers.
SENAFRONT units allegedly shot a person in the head in Oriente. (Source: Tele Comarcas)
In a separate post, the news outlet shared anonymous testimony, apparently from a local police officer, which contradicts the denial of live ammunition having been used in Rambála. “They are using firearms against protesters… The declaration of the SENAFRONT and Mulino assassins on TV is false. They are lying… They are killing without mercy.”
Other activists were injured on June 17 in the communities of Oriente and Pueblo Nuevo, south of Rambála in the Comarca Ngäbe-Buglé.
A video clip shared by the Indigenous human rights organization MODETEAB (Movement for the Defence of the Territories and Ecosystems of Bocas del Toro) shows an injured individual being carried on a stretcher by several companions and two nurses, having reportedly been shot in the head by SENAFRONT officers.
“One was injured in Oriente,” said the speaker in the clip, “and the other was wounded here in Pueblo Nuevo… Right now, a comrade from the community of Oriente has been injured—wounded in the head by the border police. He was treated by medical staff from the Pueblo Nuevo community, but due to the severity of his condition he is being transferred to the hospital in Chiriquí Grande.
He added: “They don’t mind killing, they tell us. We are with our hands, with our feet – and they are with pistols, with shotguns. They are firing bullets, comrades. Let it be known.”
Another harrowing video published by Tele Comarcas, possibly of the same incident, shows numerous protesters rushing to assist a companion just moments after being shot in Pueblo Nuevo, at around 9.25 AM on June 17. The news outlet subsequently reported that the injured person is a nephew of General Cacica Elena Cruz, the highest traditional authority of the Comarca Ngäbe-Buglé.
The brutal events signal a deadly escalation of Operation Omega, the official codename for the government-directed police campaign in Bocas del Toro. IC sounded the alarm over Operation Omega yesterday.
Where the Mulino regime seeks control and violence over dialogue and justice, the Indigenous peoples of Panama call on international observers, human rights groups, and solidarity networks to amplify their voices and pressure the Panamanian government for accountability and respect for human rights.
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