Panama declares emergency over banana region unrest

Constitutional rights are suspended for five days in the Bocas del Toro province after mass looting.

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The government says constitutional rights will be suspended for the next five days in the north-western Bocas del Toro province.

The measure restricts freedom of movement and allows the police to make arrests without a warrant.

Troubles in the region began a month ago, when the local banana workers union joined a nationwide protest against proposed pension cuts and declared a strike.

"In the face of the disruption of order and acts of systematic violence, the state will enforce its constitutional mandate to guarantee peace," said Juan Carlos Orillac, minister of the presidency.