A Panamanian opposition leader denounced the government for allowing “an invasion without firing a shot” this weekend after it agreed to allow U.S. troops to deploy in the country.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth revealed on Thursday he had signed deals with Panama to “protect the Panama Canal from Chinese influence.”
The local chapter of Transparency International, as well as the opposition Another Way Movement, are demanding that Panama publish details of its secret agreements with the U.S., which are understood to involve U.S. troops moving into three former bases, and “first and free” access for the U.S. Navy throughout the waterway.
Another Way leader Ricardo Lombana said, “No matter what you call it, what we’ve read in the memo is the establishment of military bases.”
No U.S. troops have been deployed to Panama since 1999. The country has bitter memories of the U.S. invasion of 1989, with estimates of civilian deaths ranging from the hundreds to several thousand.
Lombana, who said Panama had been invaded without firing a shot, said the government was “limping and kneeling” under U.S. pressure. It has already withdrawn from the Chinese-led Belt and Road Project, which funds infrastructure development, following criticism from Washington.
Control of the canal, through which about 5% of all traded goods worldwide passes each year, has been a prominent demand of President Donald Trump.
U.S. pressure was widely cited as the reason Hong Kong-based firm C.K. Hutchison agreed to sell two port facilities near the Panama Canal to U.S. investment firm Blackrock, the world’s biggest asset manager. C.K. Hutchison is now refusing to sign off on the deal, having come under pressure in turn from Chinese authorities.
Trump has expressed wider concerns about China’s domination of global shipbuilding and shipping, proposing hefty fees for Chinese-built ships to dock in U.S. ports, though these may be reduced following a backlash from U.S. importers, just as he has just exempted computers and smartphones from the tariffs imposed in Chinese products.
China builds 1,000 ocean-going ships a year, compared to just 10 built in the United States.
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