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Protesters in Panama have erected new roadblocks, rejecting a deal signed with the government to clear the highways in exchange for a fuel price cut.
On Sunday, the government and some protest leaders announced a deal to end more than two weeks of demonstrations over high fuel prices and rising living costs in the country of 4.4 million people.
“We are in a bad way; no food, no buses. I wanted to buy rice and … what little can be found is very expensive. The vegetables are bad,” said Angelica Ruiz, a resident of Pacora, east of Panama City, who also had trouble getting to work.
The protests come as Panama faces difficult economic conditions, with inflation of 4.2 percent recorded in May, along with an unemployment rate of about 10 percent and fuel price hikes of nearly 50 percent since January.
Despite its economy which uses US dollars as its currency and high growth figures, the country has a high rate of social inequality.