Even before assuming office, Donald Trump had already begun to threaten Panama’s sovereignty, laying claim to the Panama Canal. In a meeting in December 2024, Trump said that the fees charged to US vessels for crossing the canal were extremely high and therefore “we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, quickly and without question.”
The Trump administration did not take long to put more direct pressure on the right-wing government of José Mulino. On February 1, Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Panama to suppress the deals Panama had agreed to with Chinese authorities and companies. A day later, the Panamanian authorities, who have shown themselves to be aligned with Washington’s foreign policies, eliminated the treaties they had maintained with China since 2017. In addition, Rubio managed to secure US supervision over the Darien Gap thanks to establishing a US military airport, and for Panama to hand over intelligence information to the United States, among other measures.
Mulino will continue to collaborate with Washington
Now, according to Panama’s own Secretary of Security, Frank Ábrego, the disgraced US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is set to visit Panama on April 7. Despite threats of potentially retaking control over the Panama Canal, the Panamanian government seems to be deepening its collaboration with the United States.
This information was confirmed by the US Embassy in Panama itself, which implied that the security agreements would be expanded: “[Mulino and Hegseth] agreed on the strong relationship and the many security interests shared by the United States and Panama, including the safeguarding of the Panama Canal. Secretary Hegseth and President Mulino also agreed to expand cooperation between the US military and Panama’s security establishment.”
“Four US military bases are being planned”
In view of the visit, several political and social organizations have announced that they will demonstrate against Hegseth’s visit and reject the Mulino government ceding Panamanian sovereignty. The National Front for the Defense of Economic and Social Rights (FRENADESO) affirmed that the visit of the US Secretary of Defense is related to Trump’s intention to retake control of the Panama Canal.
The Mulino government, they claim, has delivered everything Washington has asked for, including concessions on the detention migrants in Panama, the purchase and sale of two ports (Balboa and Cristobal) to the US consortium BlackRock, the delivery of cyber-tigue information to the Southern Command, and the entry of several US military personnel to hotels in the capital.
“The Mulino government has responded unworthily by giving in on almost everything: It has subordinated itself to US immigration policy, opened an audit process by the Comptroller’s Office to Panama Ports, not to defend national interests, but to justify the transfer of the ports into the hands of the United States or one of its companies; withdrew Panama from important agreements with China within the framework of the Silk Road and other bilateral pacts; handed over to the Southern Command the cybernetic security of the Canal and has gradually allowed the entry of Yankee troops, some of which can already be seen in local hotels,” they state in the communiqué.
In addition, FRENADESO denounced the plan for the establishment of four US military bases on Panamanian soil, which would supposedly be located in Coso Solo and Rodman, Balboa, Howard, and Darien, a key passage taken by hundreds of thousands of South American migrants every year to reach the United States.
“This is a large-scale operation that, in addition to numerous troops, involves military infrastructure works and the introduction of many high-tech weapons, equipment, ships, airplanes, helicopters, etc. The agreement has been drafted by the US Department of Defense for approval in Panama, in English, without translation into Spanish. An inter-institutional team has been created to try to give legal basis to this agreement, which prevents it from reaching the National Assembly as the Constitution mandates for agreements of this nature,” states Frenadeso in a communiqué.
Mass opposition to Mulino and US imperialism
Hegseth’s visit will come on the heels of a 48-hour national strike of teachers and a general mobilization of construction workers. After their massive protest against the privatization of social security and other austerity measures, movements in Panama have vowed to protest the Secretary’s visit.
The United People’s Alliance of Panama stated: “The country is being handed over with the four military bases that have been talked about. We cannot accept that. In this country, several generations of Panamanians fought for the sovereignty of the country, and today the dictator [Mulino] wants to hand over the sovereignty of this country and that cannot go unnoticed.”
“We request the international solidarity of the peoples of the world and of the progressive, democratic, and revolutionary governments. We call for struggle and popular mobilization in defense of our national sovereignty. We reject the presence of Pete Hegseth in Panama.”
