The United States Sends Military Aid to Panama
US Navy sailors and Panamanian police forces train together as part of a 2011 joint exercise. (WikiCommons)
The United States announced early last week that it will gift Panama an aid package of military equipment valued at close to $6.5 million. Panama will receive the donation, which includes tools and technology designed to counteract chemical, biological, and nuclear threats, by the end of February. The contribution, according to US and Panamanian officials, is meant to augment the Latin American country’s fight against transnational organized crime, drug trafficking, and terrorist groups.
Officials with the Panama office of the US Department of Defense disclosed details of the new gift in an informal conversation with reporters at the US embassy. They noted that the new equipment was funded primarily by a program in the Office of Security Cooperation aimed at the development of the capacities of friendly countries. US officials stressed that, in addition to its tangible impact on the security scene in Panama, the donation serves as a symbolic reminder of the United States’ commitment to security in the Central American country. They also noted the importance of a stable government capable of maintaining open access to the Panama Canal, which facilities $270 billion in international cargo transportation each year.
The US contribution bolsters a national security budget that shrank earlier this month. In the first week of February, the Ministry of Public Safety of Panama budgeted approximately $723 million for all of 2020, more than 10 percent less than 2019’s $807 million budget.
Some in the country point to increasing crime rates in the country and question the wisdom of such an extensive budget reduction. For instance, the violent crime rate reached its highest point in 5 years last January. However, this statistic demonstrates that the violent crime rate, which increased by 16.7% between 2018 and 2019, has not quite seen the improvements promised by President Laurentino Cortizo since his term began last year. Nevertheless, Panama’s homicide rate remains comparatively low among its Latin American peers.
In their justification for the aid package, officials with the US Embassy touted the agreement as necessary to “guarantee the security of the hemisphere.” They also discussed the importance of this sort of cooperation as the two countries “confront transnational crime organizations and carry out complex operations to seize drugs and dismantle crime networks.”
However, some experts in Panama criticized the agreement with concerns about Panamanian sovereignty and growing levels of violence between police forces and criminals. Richard Morales, a political scientist and professor at the University of Panama, suggested that the donation serves only as an extension of the “American war on drugs” that has “plagued Panama and all the Latin American region with violence, tearing apart societies and leaving hundreds of thousands dead.” International relations analyst and longtime diplomat Julio Yao Villalaz worried that having any military presence in Panama would run counter to that country’s values and sovereignty. He said that the people of Panama “are traditionally neutral and pacifist,” and that by treaty, there should be “no foreign military presence” in the country.
The new equipment will arrive amid mixed opinions and an escalating crime situation; its effects, whatever they may be, will likely generate similar civil discourse and political strife in the long term.