AND: Military Exercises and Blackmail Impulse the Imperialist Offensive in Panama
We hereby share an unofficial translation of an article published by A Nova Democracia (AND).
In mid-January, US repressive forces and Panama’s reactionary army began joint war exercises in the Panama Canal Zone under the pretext of “protecting the Canal’s maritime route.” The announcement comes after cannibal Donald Trump threatened to retake control of the canal by brute force in 2025, citing China’s alleged “malign influence.” The program mobilizes U.S. Marines and specialized local police units at strategic naval bases.
Approximately 50 US Navy personnel and more than 60 units from the Panamanian Air Force and Police are participating in maneuvers in Colón and the capital, scheduled for 45 consecutive days of joint exercises. The Ministry of Security is attempting to sell the exercises as a “capability enhancement,” cynically claiming that “the (military) leaders participating in the program were asked to act with the utmost respect for Panama’s national sovereignty,” alleged Security Minister Frank Abrego.
Groups such as the National Front for the Defense of Economic and Social Rights (Frenadeso) denounce the training as criminal interference that transforms the country into a springboard for imperialist aggression. The coordinator of Frenadeso described the occupation as an “affront to the history of the struggle for sovereignty.” While the people burn US flags in anger, the lackey president José Raúl Mulino, who cynically tried to assert in Davos that “Panama is not for sale,” kneels before Washington. The “coincidence” of the maneuvers is undeniable: they occur immediately after Trump convened the National Security Council to discuss the Venezuelan crisis and consolidate Mulino as his agent in the region, alongside figures such as Javier Milei in Argentina, Nayib Bukele in El Salvador, and Daniel Noboa in Ecuador, sacrificing Panamanian self-determination on the altar of Washington’s hegemony.
The scenario sets the backdrop for inter-imperialist rivalry
China is threatening to block the sale of more than 40 ports owned by CK Hutchison, one of Hong Kong’s largest conglomerates, to the US imperialist giant BlackRock and the Swiss company MSC if the Chinese state-owned company Cosco is excluded from the deal. Beijing has informed the corporations that it will take drastic measures to prevent the $22.8 billion transaction if its interests are not guaranteed.
The “Donroe Doctrine,” a modern corollary to the old Monroe Doctrine, is what drives Washington. The debate in reactionary circles at the Pentagon defines total hegemony over the Western Hemisphere as an absolute priority. Trump celebrated BlackRock’s commercial port advances as a “recovery” of the Panama Canal. For US policymakers, this is not just a “trade war,” but latent political objectives and strategic assets that will be exploited, for now, in a low-intensity war against Russian and Chinese influence in the region.
In December, weeks before Nicolás Maduro’s kidnapping, the US Marine Corps began combat exercises on Panamanian soil, which could be understood as official preparations for the kidnapping. Current operations are concentrated at the former Sherman Base, a strategic point at the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal.
About 50 military personnel, including US Marines and local police, simulated “rescue” and air transport operations in a jungle environment. Although the Mulino administration attempted to classify the exercises as “routine training,” the coincidence is undeniable: the maneuvers occurred immediately after President Donald Trump convened the National Security Council to address the Venezuelan crisis.
The hypocrisy of the Panamanian government
President Mulino declared an end to tensions with the United States shortly after Trump’s threats of invasion, canceling agreements with Chinese social imperialism to kneel before the Great Satan, the United States. Foreign Minister Martínez-Acha even goes so far as to claim that the relationship is based on “respect,” while the boots of U.S. Marines have historically trampled on Panamanian soil.
Yankee control of the Canal, which lasted until 1999, left deep scars. The waterway served as a military base and headquarters for the infamous School of the Americas, the torture chamber where the Pentagon trained Latin American military personnel in counterinsurgency strategies. The formal handover of control took place 25 years ago, now once again threatened by the voracious hunger of imperialism, which uses the excuse of the “war on drugs” to reaffirm its colonial domination.
The capture of Nicolás Maduro, celebrated by Mulino, is a recent example of the utter disregard for failed “international law.” This attempt at a show of force by a bankrupt empire seeks to intimidate any country that dares to deviate from Washington’s playbook, serving as a warning that Yankee imperialism does not accept competition in its own “backyard.”
