2 demonstrators die in Panama during latest protests over Canadian company's mining contract

Demonstrators tear down a police barricade during a protest against a recently approved mining contract between the government and Canadian mining company First Quantum, in Panama City, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)

PANAMA CITY -

Two people died Tuesday while participating in a third week of protests against a controversial government mining contract in Panama, officials confirmed.

One person was arrested in connection with the incident, Panama's attorney general said on the social network X, formerly Twitter.

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Officials did not say how the demonstrators died while blocking a road in the east of the country, but local reports suggested they were shot by a driver attempting to get past the protest.

A video circulating on social media appeared to show the alleged attacker carrying a gun and removing a tire from the road blockade, while a body lies on the road nearby.

The deaths followed local reports that a demonstrator was run over and killed Nov. 1 by a foreigner attempting to cross a roadblock during a protest in the west of the country.

The contract, given final approval Oct. 20, allows the local subsidiary of Canadian mining company First Quantum Minerals to continue operating an open-pit copper mine in a richly biodiverse jungle west of the capital for the next 20 years -- with the possibility of extending for a further 20 years if the mine remains productive.

Since protests began, the government nearly passed legislation that would have revoked the contract, but it backtracked in a late-evening debate at the National Assembly on Nov. 2.