PANAMA CITY, Panama – Public transportation is scarce and most construction sites are stilled in Panama because of a nationwide strike.

Demonstrators want the government to halt the rising cost of living. They say officials should impose price controls on basic food items and increase salaries by 20 percent.

They also want Panamanian Interior Minister Daniel Delgado to step down because they say his security reforms are repressive.

Delgado says the reforms are necessary to battle drug trafficking.

Thursday's marches included university students blocking one busy road. No major violence was reported.

Panama's economy is growing, but inflation hit 9 percent earlier this year because of the world food crisis and rising oil prices.