FILE IMAGES of demonstrations in Panama in November 2023 after a gunman killed two demonstrators blocking a road over a big mining contract. Kenneth Darlington, 78, has been sentenced to 48 years in prison for the crimes of "aggravated intentional homicide" and "possession and trafficking of arms and explosives," over the killing of the two demonstrators. These were the first fatalities in protests that broke out against a contract that would have allowed Canada-based First Quantum Minerals to operate Central America's biggest open pit copper mine for at least another 20 years. Eventually the Supreme Court declared the concession contract "unconstitutional," after which production was halted and the government said it would implement a shutdown program for the facilities. FILE IMAGES