Panama Grants US Troop Access to Canal Bases, Stops Short Of Allowing Permanent Installations

A new US-Panama agreement will allow American troops to deploy across multiple bases along the Panama Canal, marking a strategic win for President Donald Trump’s push to reassert US influence on the vital waterway, AFP reported.

Signed by top security officials, the deal permits US military personnel to deploy to Panama-controlled facilities for training, exercises and “other activities”.

However, the agreement avoids permitting permanent US military bases, which remain politically sensitive and legally contentious in Panama.

Still, the US gains broad latitude to station an unspecified number of personnel to bases, some of which Washington built when it occupied the canal zone decades ago.

Since retaking office in January, Trump has cited China’s rising footprint around the canal—through which 40 per cent of US container traffic and 5 per cent of global trade flows—as a key concern.

Trump’s administration has vowed to "take back" control of the strategic waterway that the US funded, built and controlled until 1999.

Washington has previously conducted joint military drills in Panama, but the new deal deepens its operational access.

Yet, the idea of a long-term rotational presence—similar to US deployments in Darwin, Australia—remains politically-toxic for Panama’s centre-right President José Raúl Mulino.

While in Peru on Thursday, Mulino disclosed that Washington had initially pushed for its own bases.

Mulino said he had told visiting Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth that US bases, allowed under an earlier draft, would be “unacceptable”.

He warned Hegseth: “Do you want to create a mess, what we’ve put in place here would set the country on fire.”

The final version, a scaled-back “memorandum of understanding” signed Wednesday by Hegseth and Panama’s security chief Frank Abrego, includes concessions to Panama.

Panama will also have to agree to any deployments.

Still, Trump’s record of reversing agreements has left many Panamanians skeptical of these safeguards.

US-Panama ties have long been shaped by a complex and often uneasy history.

Despite economic and cultural links, the legacy of US occupation of the canal zone and the 1989 invasion to oust Manuel Noriega continue to shadow bilateral relations.

The invasion left over 500 Panamanians dead and parts of Panama City in ruins.

Trump’s vow to reclaim canal control and his allegations of Chinese sway have ignited mass protests in Panama.

By law, Panama operates the canal giving access to all nations.

However, Trump has focused on a Hong Kong firm that’s long operated ports flanking the canal’s Atlantic and Pacific entrances.

Amid US pressure, Panama accused the Panama Ports Company of contract breaches and moved to expel it from national operations.

The ports’ parent company CK Hutchison announced last month a deal to sell 43 ports in 23 countries – including its two on the Panama Canal – to a consortium led by US asset manager BlackRock for $19 billion in cash.

China, angered by the development, has launched an antitrust investigation into the deal.

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