Earlier this month U.S. Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, visited Panama City in the framework of a three-day regional security conference (CENTSEC 2025). The visit focused on enhancing bilateral security cooperation, particularly regarding the Panama Canal, countering alleged Chinese influence in the region.
During the visit the U.S. and Panama signed a Memorandum of Understanding to bolster joint military training, intelligence sharing, and cybersecurity efforts and Panamanian President Mulino & Hegseth also issued a joint declaration. The strengthened cooperation allows for rotational deployments of U.S. military personnel to a number of former U.S. military installations (including Rodman Naval Station, Howard Air Force Base and Fort Sherman).
“First & Free”
Moreover, Hegseth signed a Joint Declaration on Security Matters with the Minister for Canal Affairs (Press Release). The declaration states that efforts will be made to develop a mechanism to offset the payment of tolls and charges by U.S. warships and auxiliary vessels transiting the Panama Canal, against services Panama receives from the US (“seeking a cost-neutral basis”).
The general outcome of the visit indicates a closer alignment of Panama with U.S. interests and put U.S.-Panama relations back into a more “relaxed” mode looking at the inflammatory rhethoric of the past months.