Situation in Volcan

It is reported that talks are underway between the Indians and the government so hopefully the natives will go back home and leave us alone.  I really am sympathetic to their cause though and hope that they have made their point and their position clear and that the government will come to believe that they were serious. A friend of mine sent the following email which she received from a friend in the Volcan area.  So far all is well in our location and we are able to move about freely although are being cautious about travelling to areas where the roads could be blocked with no exit.

Thanks for your concern. Things are very tense here and while there is a real chance of escalation we at the moment are in no danger. Unfortunately, the Indians that demonstrate peacefully for the most part, have no weapons and just do what they can thru the only means possible and that is to block roads and demontrate. The local maleantes are taking this time of chaos to be very bad boys and are responsible for most of the damage being done. The police station and another building housing the library, an info center - computors etc, the post office and a higher level of police and govt cars have been torched. The main street from the center of town to the entranced is blocked and covered with rocks and burning tires. We  have been out of gas for a week. The interamerican hwy was blocked for several days so nothing could be brought in and people were trapped on the road for days. Its been a mess. I totally side with the Indians. There land has been sold to canadians and chinese (she is talking about the mine) and now the govt has gone back on its word that there would be no mining on the comarca. This will be a huge open pit coppermine that will poison the waters and land (not so sure about the validity of this statement). The concession will go to a foreign country. The Indians will see little to none and most of the money will go into the pockets of the politicos as in the states (probably true). Very little will filter down to infrastructure ot to improve the lives and education of the general population. The Indians are literally fighting for their way of life and survival. Panama is a very special and beautiful place - not without its warts and we love living here but things change everywhere all the time and it appears Martinelli is trying to position himself as dictator as Chavez, Ortega and Obama (OK so she doesn't like Obama and they do have a democracy here). In the meantime we hope this situation gets resolved peacably without loss of life. Mostly the Indians since they have no weapons and generally a peaceful people limiting fights to their own culture. It is very sad. We stay inside our property. Some gringos have gone out with no problems to see what is going on but I have some health problems which makes it impossible to walk very far so interested as I am, I am staying home. We are two blocks off the main road but here it seems like nothing is unusual. We hear the occasional gunshot but that could be residents sending a signal that they are armed and dont mess with them. The latest report says the town is full of Indiginous and that could mean something is about to happen. I pray not