Protesters burned tires and used tree trunks to halt traffic in at least four spots on the highway, which links Panama City with Costa Rica, an AFP journalist reported.

Many of the protesters carried machetes and bows and arrows, and some donned face paint or wore ski masks.

"We are expecting the president to overturn this law that affects us so much as soon as possible," Felix Rodriguez, the head of the Ngobe-Bugle Indians, told AFP.

Martinelli "has to pay attention to us," said Rodriguez, who was at a road block in the eastern Chiriqui province. Police were absent from the area.

Scores of cars and trucks had been stranded on the highway, which among other things is used by trucks moving goods that arrive by ship to Panama destined to other Central American nations.

There was no reports of violence or arrests. Similar protests were held Thursday.

Marches and demonstrations have been going on for weeks even though the conservative Martinelli administration on Tuesday issued a decree banning mining in Indian territory.

Lawmakers in Panama on February 10 approved legislation to attract foreign investment to its mining industry, despite opposition from students and indigenous groups.

Martinelli and his supporters in the National Assembly argue that mining could be Panama's second largest source of income after fees from the trans-oceanic canal.

Students, environmentalists and indigenous groups, however, fear changes to the mining code -- untouched since the 1960s -- would spoil the pristine jungle and force Indian communities to relocate.

Polls have shown that most Panamanians believe an increase in mining would hurt the environment and Indian communities.

stri-jjr/ch

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