Members of the Union of Journalists of Panama urged themselves to defend democracy and national sovereignty from their daily work, which is threatened today by power elites.

Panama City.- During the commemorative forum of the 76 years of the union organization, called “The national reality of unionism and the future of the country: the press as an ally of change”, the professionals also urged to build a firm and unbreakable unity.

According to Alberto Velasquez, communicator and former governor of the province of Panama, throughout history and in the face of neo-colonialist threats, the participation of journalists has been outstanding.

For her part, teacher, social activist, and poet Sharon Pringle stressed that in the current circumstances of the Government of José Raúl Mulino, it is necessary to raise the levels of collective consciousness of the population about the harmful effects of a repressive and exclusionary economic model, which aims at dispossession and blocking citizen protest.

Other speakers, such as Nelva Reyes, secretary-general of the General Autonomous Workers' Central Union of Panama, and Eduardo Jose Gil, leader of Convergencia Sindical, agreed in denouncing the repression unleashed by the current Executive against the groups that oppose it. (PL)