LatinNews Daily - 19 October 2026

Panama/Region: On 14 October the US embassy in Panama rejected claims made in a New York Times (NYT) report published the same day that Washington is deploying 600 soldiers to Panama as part of an expanded campaign against drug trafficking in Latin America. In its report, citing anonymous US military officials, the NYT said that the first elements of a 600-soldier battalion had “begun deploying to a new jungle training facility in Panama”, and these troops “will eventually train with local forces in Colombia and Honduras”. It said that these “could also support U.S. Special Operations troops advising militaries conducting raids against accused drug traffickers”. Describing the deployments as part of Washington’s broader counternarcotics strategy, which has also seen Ecuador and the US launch joint military actions in Ecuadorean territory, the NYT cites Adam Isacson, of US-based human rights lobby group Washington Office on Latin America (Wola), as saying that he could not recall any US troop deployment to the region “that ever came close to 600, except for contingencies like invasions or natural disasters.” The US embassy press release however says that the NYT claims are “categorically false”. It states that “currently, 120 U.S. service members from the 10th Mountain Division are participating in a two-week jungle training course in Panama”. Upon concluding their training on 25 October “they will return to their home base at Fort Drum, New York”, adding that other US military personnel “will participate in regional exercises, including Southern Vanguard in Peru”. It also claims: “This is nothing new. The Jungle Operations Training Center has been operating for over a year as an officially recognized U.S. Army school. U.S. and Panamanian instructors jointly train personnel in survival techniques and jungle operations”. The NYT reported that officials in Panama, Colombia and Honduras had not immediately responded to requests for comment.

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