Panama has declared a state of emergency in the north-western Bocas del Toro province.

As part of the crackdown, the state has enforced rolling Internet outages.

"Metrics show the Internet blackout in the Bocas del Toro Province of Panama is in its third day, with emergency calls also impacted," outage tracker NetBlocks said on June 24.

"The measure, imposed in response to banana workers' protests, continues to limit economic activity and freedom of expression."

In late April, Panama’s Congress approved pension changes that critics said would force longer work hours and lead to lower pensions.

That sparked mass strikes at the local operations of banana giant Chiquita, as workers called for fairer wages. The company, formerly the United Fruit Corporation, sacked some 5,000 of its 6,500 workers as a result.

Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino called the strikes illegal and backed the widespread layoffs.

Mass protests soon followed at the nation's largest banana-growing region, Bocas del Toro. Others also took to the street against an April agreement between Mulino and US President Donald Trump to deploy US troops near the Panama Canal.

After several months of protest, things spiraled last week with businesses and government offices damaged and a stadium partially set on fire.

Blaming the protestors, Panama's government on Friday temporarily suspended some constitutional rights, including restricting freedom of movement and allowing the police to make arrests without a warrant.

On Sunday, the state began cutting connectivity in Bocas del Toro, although it said that healthcare, government bodies, and some enterprises would still be able to access the Internet.