On 19 October 2023, journalist and activist from the Collective Ya es Ya (Enough is Enough), Aubrey Baxter was seriously injured by police, resulting in him losing his eye, as he attended and documented peaceful protests arising from the Panamanian government renewing the copper exploration concession at the largest open-pit copper mine in Central America held by Minera Panama, a subsidiary of Canada's First Quantum Minerals. Following the incident, the Movement Panama is Worth More without Mining (Movimiento Panamá Vale Más Sin Minería), the collective Enough is Enough (Ya es Ya), and the Centre for Environmental Advocacy (Centro para la Incidencia Ambiental (CIAM)) filed a criminal complaint against the Metropolitan Police for excessive use of force.

Since the beginning of the protests in October 2023, at least 30 people have been arrested, and on 1 November 2023, Diógenes Sánchez, member of the Panama Teacher's Association (Asociación de Profesores de Panamá (Asoprof)), was arrested by police following his active participation in the protests. Abdiel Díaz and Iván Rodríguez were shot and killed on 7 November.