Genaro López Rodríguez (born 26 July 1954 in Chitra, Calobre District, Veraguas Province,

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

) is a Panamanian union leader and politician. He is best known as secretary-general of the building workers' union Suntracs, 1990–2010; as leader of the Frenadeso movement for economic and social rights; and as presidential candidate on behalf of the

Broad Front for Democracy The Broad Front for Democracy () was a Panamanian political party originally founded in 2013. At the 2014 Panamanian general election, the candidate's party was Genaro López for the Presidency A presidency is an administration or the execut ...

(''Frente Amplio por la Democracia''), party in the 2014 elections.''El obrero que quiere ser presidente''
, La Estrella de Panamá, 11 September 2013

Early life

His parents were María Salomé Rodríguez and Reynaldo López Alvarado. They were coffee growers, who later set up a village food store. Genaro López grew up in the village of Chitra, where he attended primary school. At the age of 18, he left the village and moved to

Panama City Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, i ...

Worker and trade unionist

His first job in the city was maintenance work in a restaurant, but he soon left due to disagreements with his employer. Then, his uncle offered him work in the construction field. He worked as a builder in a number of construction projects during the 1970s. In 1976, he joined the Suntracs union, then a small voluntary group of builders, carpenters and refurbishers. While working for the Díaz y Guardia company, he achieved an increase in the membership of unions. After serving for several years as a union representative, in 1980 with the support of a number of workers' movements he joined the governing council of Suntracs, but later gave up his position due to that union's links with the

Manuel Noriega Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno ( , ; February 11, 1934 – May 29, 2017) was a Panamanian dictator and military officer who was the ''de facto'' List of heads of state of Panama, ruler of Panama from 1983 to 1989. He never officially serv ...

dictatorship. After this, López helped to create a campaign for democracy (Modec) within Suntracs, joining its general secretariat in 1987 during the political crisis in Panama at that time. After the dictatorship had fallen, on 15 February 1990 he was appointed secretary-general of Suntracs itself.

Leader of Suntracs

During his 20 years as leader of the union, its membership increased to 50,000, making it the largest union in Panama, and it achieved the most favourable collective bargaining agreement in Central America. He led strikes and protests throughout five presidencies, and supported public sector workers who were dismissed after the 1990 coup attempt against

Guillermo Endara Guillermo David Endara Galimany (May 12, 1936 – September 28, 2009) was a Panamanian politician who served as the president of Panama from 1989 to 1994. Raised in a family allied to Panameñista Party founder Arnulfo Arias, Endara attend ...

. In 1995 he led a 13-day strike against changes to labour law under the Ernesto Pérez Balladares government, resulting in over 500 arrests and four deaths. Strikes and protests headed by López continued through the governments of Mireya Moscoso,

Martín Torrijos Martín Erasto Torrijos Espino (; born July 18, 1963) is a Panamanian politician who was President of Panama from 2004 to 2009. He was fathered out of wedlock by Panamanian military ruler Omar Torrijos, the '' de facto'' head of Panama from 19 ...

and

Ricardo Martinelli Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Berrocal (born 11 March 1951) is a Panamanian politician and businessman who served as the 36th President of Panama from 2009 to 2014. In 2024, Martinelli was sentenced to ten years in prison for embezzlement of pu ...

. During Martinelli's presidency he took part in protests in 2010 against “Law 30”, which embraced controversial reforms in labour relations and penal, judicial and environmental legislation.''Genaro López: "Ley chorizo" tiene que derogarse totalmente''
, TVN Noticias, 19 July 2010 As leader of Suntracs, Genaro López opposed the economic measures of successive governments, which he regarded as “neo-liberalism”.
Crítica (Panamá), 19 June 2005 In 2010, López did not seek re-election as secretary-general and on 26 August this position passed to Saúl Méndez.''Méndez gana elecciones del Suntracs''
, El Siglo, 27 August 2010

Presidential candidacy

On 10 September 2013 López put himself forward as presidential candidate for the recently formed

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

party,

(FAD).''Genaro López se lanza al ruedo político con miras a las primarias del FAD''
, El Panamá América, 11 September 2013''Dirigente sindical postulado como precandidato presidencial''
, El Panamá América, 10 September 2013 In the FAD

primaries Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pri ...

of 24 November, he was proclaimed the party's candidate with 71.5% of the vote, although turnout was very low at 8% of registered party members. His rivals had been the indigenous leader Celio Guerra who came second with 25.8% of the vote, Víctor Manuel Rodríguez with 1.7% and José Rodríguez Rayo with 0.91%. As candidate for president he argued that the government and the main opposition were the same, and that the FAD was the legitimate representative of the people.''Genaro López es el candidato presidencial del FAD''
, Hora Cero, 24 November 2013 In the

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

of May 2014, López won 10,914 votes or 0.59% of the total.Electoral Tribunal
, Resultados de Presidente a Nivel Nacional

Personal life

He is married to Clara Melina Bultrón, whom he met at the age of 21. They have two children, Darisbeth and Genaro López Bultrón.

References