President Panama, Jose Raul Mulino, concerns how American Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, sign a bilateral agreement in Panama City, on April 9, 2025. Credit Line: Franco Brana / AFP / Profimedia
A bilateral agreement was signed on Thursday by the head of the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, and Minister of Defense, Frank Abrego. It allows the development of American troops in the access areas and adjacent to the channel, but excludes the possibility of military bases, according to AFP, quoted by Agerpres.
The US Army and the private military companies employed by the US “will be able to use the authorized places, installations and areas designated for training, humanitarian activities (…) and exercises,” it is stated in the agreement with a duration of three years signed by the two parties.
According to the document, the installations will be the property of the Panaman state and will be intended for “joint use” by the forces of the two countries.
The head of the Pentagon had declared in a press conference in Ciudad de Panama that the common defense exercises carried out by the two countries represent “an opportunity to relaunch a military base where American troops operate,” causing concern.
Even before returning to power on January 20, Donald Trump made the pressure on the state of Panama, threatening to “take back” the US channel, inaugurated in 1914 and remained under American sovereignty until 1999. Panama recovered the channel that year, by virtue of an agreement concluded in 1977.
The US and China are the main users of the channel, by which 5% of the world maritime trade were transiting.
