The following lists events in the year 2023 in Panama.
Incumbents President: Laurentino Cortizo Vice President: José Gabriel Carrizo
Events Ongoing — COVID-19 pandemic in Panama
January 25 January – The United States bars former president Ricardo Martinelli from entering the country, accusing him of accepting bribes during his 2009–2014 administration.
February 15 February – Gualaca bus crash: At least 39 illegal immigrants are killed in Gualaca District, Chiriquí Province, when their bus, intended to be driven to the United States, falls off a cliff.
April 21-30 April – The 16th Pan American Surf Games are held in Santa Catalina. 234 athletes from 19 nations compete, Brazil win, and 42 Pan American Games spots are awarded.
July 1 July – Panama Pride in Panama City draws over 15,000 people, with music, decorations, and protests against the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage ruling. 20 July – The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) reduces the average daily transit capacity to 32 vessels per day due to late rains and low water levels. 31 July – The relocation of the Guna community from Gardi Sugdub is delayed to February 2024 due to overcrowding and incomplete mainland infrastructure.
September 3 September – Panamanian professional footballer Gilberto Hernández is shot dead and seven others are wounded by gunmen in Colón. 8 September – Panama announces stricter measures to curb record migration through the Darien Gap, including more deportations, shorter tourist stays, and higher financial requirements.
October 3 October – Panama competes at the Pan American Games in Santiago with 69 athletes, winning 8 medals.
November 2 November – Panama’s lawmakers agree to modify a proposed bill that aimed to annul a recently approved Cobre Panamá contract. 8 November – A 77-year-old man with Dual American-Panamanian citizenship shoots and kills two people protesting a mining contract in front of news cameras. 9 November – Human Rights Watch reports widespread abuse of migrants crossing the Darién Gap into Panama, with over 457,000 crossings in 2023 and exploitation by criminal groups like the Gulf Clan. 16 November – Panama holds the National Robotics Olympics with CABEI support, attracting nearly 100,000 visitors and promoting STEAM education for students and teacher training. 25 November – Anti-mining activists gather outside Panama’s Supreme Court in Panama City as deliberations begin on constitutional challenges to First Quantum Minerals’ contract for the Cobre Panamá mine. 28 November –The Supreme Court declares the law granting First Quantum Minerals a mining contract for the Cobre Panamá mine unconstitutional, after which President Laurentino Cortizo announced that the mine would be closed. Deaths 1 February – Lucy Quintero, folk singer (born 1948). 3 September – Gilberto Hernández, footballer (born 1997).
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