On September 15, 2025, SUNTRACS and FRENADESO, together with ALBA Movements and the International People’s Assembly, along with Saúl Méndez and Jorge Guzmán, leaders of the popular movement in Panama, held a press conference to denounce and repudiate the memorandum of understanding signed between the United States Army and the government of José Raúl Mulino, in the context of Latin America and the Caribbean once again being threatened by imperialism and the advance of militarism in the region.

“Since Donald Trump took office, the United States has sought to reposition itself militarily in highly strategic locations in our region, and Panama is a key geopolitical hub thanks to the Panama Canal. This vital artery of global trade puts the interests of the United States at odds with the ongoing trade war with China,” stated ALBA Movements.

This relates to Trump’s narrative, in which he claimed that the Communist Party of China owned the canal, operated two important ports, and that those ports could be converted into Chinese military bases, and that this geopolitically endangered US interests in Panama. Under that narrative, once he took office, he began to intensify aggression and pressure on the Panamanian territory.

What is the Memorandum of Understanding about?

The memorandum of understanding signed in April 2025 by President José Raúl Mulino and the United States government is the instrument that formalizes the return of US troops to Panamanian soil, as it grants the US military the right to restore three military bases on Panamanian territory: Fort Sherman (in the province of Colón), Howard (an airport), and the use of Rodman Harbor.

According to Panamanian grassroots movements, “this memorandum flagrantly violates the 1977 Panama Canal Permanent Neutrality Treaty, which establishes the neutrality of the Canal and the Republic in times of ‘peace and war’, and which had been the cornerstone of the sovereignty regained after decades of struggle,” they explained.

For its part, ALBA Movements affirmed that this agreement “involves a deployment of troops and an exchange of intelligence within Panamanian territory, under this supposed banner of struggle that the United States is currently raising in a very malicious manner, claiming to fight drug trafficking and organized crime.”

In this regard, Saúl Méndez, leader of the National Union of Industrial, Construction, and Related Workers (SUNTRACS), stated that “the notorious traitors in Panama have once again rolled back not only our right to self-determination and sovereignty, but they have also scorned the struggle of our people, their generous blood, to surrender to the designs of Trump and this entire new wave of ultra-right-wing governments from the United States.”

The figure of José Raúl Mulino will be key to understanding why the US threat is taking place in Panamanian territory and how it is repressing and adjusting its population to make this pressure happen.

Popular movements in Panama have described it as “treason”.

Mulino’s repressive government

For several months, movements, organizations, and unions have been mobilizing against the Panamanian government and carrying out various protests. José Mulino’s response was to discredit and criminalize the protests; he organized a violent repression against the demonstrators and arbitrarily arrested political and union leaders. This repression was brutal and systematic, documented and reported even to the UN.

Read More: Labor wins and increased repression: 50 days of Panama’s national strike

During the press conference, the leaders reported that more than 100 social and union leaders have been prosecuted. Among the emblematic cases are Jaime Caballero, imprisoned in the “Mega Joya” maximum-security prison alongside convicted criminals, and Genaro López, a SUNTRACS leader who was forced to seek refuge in the Nicaraguan embassy after being subjected to political persecution.

Jorge Guzmán, leader of the National Communal Movement, explained that following the Bocas del Toro Massacre (Operation Omega) in June 2025, the government declared a state of siege to suppress Indigenous and peasant protests. “The documented outcome is shocking,” he stated.

“One confirmed death by firearm, despite official denials. The population reports more than 25 missing persons who have not returned to their homes. There have been 311 illegal arrests, with 108 reports of torture, rape, and sexual abuse. Women have been raped and their heads shaved, and men have broken ribs and arms,” Guzmán said.

The leader of the National Communal Movement stated that the United Nations has already issued an official statement to the Mulino government for “the excessive use of force, torture, and violence against women and indigenous peoples.”

A new specific condemnation for Operation Omega is expected by the end of 2025.

It is important to emphasize that, despite their governments, the Panamanian people are always fighting for their sovereignty. This is how Saúl Méndez explains it: “We must remember that Panama recovers its canal as a result of the historical struggle of the Panamanian people in the streets, a people who confronted it at different stages of their lives. Right now, in October, marks 100 years of a struggle we know,” he expressed.

In this regard, Jorge Guzmán said that with the memorandum signed by Mulino, “the Panama Canal Permanent Neutrality Treaty is grossly violated. The US Army is granted the right to restore three military bases in Panama with a US military presence, equipped with US war equipment.”

In turn, ALBA Movements affirms that:

“We are facing a situation in which the decadent empire is losing strength with the BRICS and China, and is trying to consolidate what they consider their backyard: our America. In this logic, this entire policy of aggression materializes with genuflecting policies and submission of governments like Mulino’s, which are on their knees before the empire.”

The memorandum with the United States is the axis of a project of submission to Yankee imperialism, taking place under a government like Mulino’s, aligned with the continental far right. The agreement is being implemented through the fierce repression of its people, which has been classified as crimes against humanity by human rights organizations, sacrificing the sovereignty and lives of its people for the benefit of US interests.

First published by ARG Medios in Spanish.

The post Back to the colony: Panama is losing its sovereignty with the return of US troops appeared first on Peoples Dispatch.

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