President Juan Carlos Varela was literally left with his back against a wall by a group of indigenous people protesting against the signing of an agreement on the contentious Barrio Blanco project.
Demonstrators broke the security cordon in Llano Tugri and erupted violently in the meeting which the President and Vice President had convened with Silvia Carrera, chief of the indigenous region of Ngäbe-Bugle.
Having confronted the protesters and appealed for the supposed respect that being 'their president' conferred onto him, Mr. Varela ultimately had to take shelter in the classroom of a nearby school.
The incident was marked by demonstrators shouting, attempting to disrupt the meeting and throwing stones. All this occurred in the presence of security minister Alexis Bethancourt as well as director of National Security Council Rolando Lopez, both of whom stood nearby.
As the agreement was being signed, a group of indigenous protesters opposed to the hydroelectric project in Barrio Blanco held hostage two other indigenous chiefs, Chito Gallardo and Jeremias Montero. Both men sustained injuries.
The protesters then had an altercation with police forces and threw stones while attempting to break through the cordoned-off area where the agreement signature was taking place. One of the cars of the presidential security convoy suffered broken windows.
The police commissioner for the eastern region, Luis Quiel, as well as one member of the SPI and Senafront, also sustained injuries.
As soon as the agreement was signed, security forces escorted the president and the local chief to the classroom of a nearby school, where they were forced to remain for approximately 2 hours while protests continued.
According to a Ricardo Miranda of M-10, the agreement is of no consequence given that chief Carrera does not command authority within the indigenous tribes. She is allegedly perceived as someone who has sold out to the government.
Indigenous protesters maintained the school exit blocked, in attempt to stop the presidential delegation and indigenous representatives from leaving the premises. It was only when the heavily-escorted president reappeared to address the protesters intimating that they'd let him leave or face being arrested, that the delegation was allowed to leave the building.
Presidential security had to escort chief Carrera as well as other indigenous chiefs to their vehicles among shouting protesters. Demonstrators accused local chiefs of betraying local people and urged them to leave the indigenous reservation and not come back.
