Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will travel to Panama on Wednesday for meetings with President José Raúl Mulino and senior Colombian officials as the United States expands defense cooperation with the Central American nation.
The Pentagon announced Tuesday that Hegseth will also deliver remarks at the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition Forum, known as A3C, a U.S.-led multinational coalition designed to coordinate security and military efforts against transnational criminal organizations, particularly drug cartels operating throughout Central and South America.
The coalition, also called the Shield of the Americas, was launched in early March. President Donald Trump named Kristi Noem as the U.S. envoy to the alliance after removing her as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
Hegseth’s latest trip follows his April 2025 visit to Panama, when he signed two agreements aimed at expanding cooperation between Washington and Panama City.
Those included a memorandum of understanding to strengthen security cooperation and a joint declaration concerning the security and operation of the Panama Canal.
“The era of capitulating to coercion by the communist Chinese is over,” Hegseth said during that visit, warning about China’s “growing and adversarial control of strategic land and critical infrastructure in this hemisphere.”
“The Panama Canal is key terrain that must be secured by Panama, with America, and not China,” Hegseth said.
His 2025 visit came as Trump repeatedly suggested the United States should take back control of the Panama Canal.
Hegseth’s latest trip also comes one day after a Navy MH-60 helicopter fired two Hellfire missiles into the steering area of the Panama-flagged cargo tanker Vela Nova. The strike disabled the vessel, which U.S. defense officials said was attempting to breach the American naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.
While in Panama, Hegseth will meet with U.S. service members participating in the Jungle Operations Training Course and observe PANAMAX training events, according to the Pentagon.
The U.S. military revived jungle warfare training in Panama last fall for the first time in more than two decades, preparing troops in survival and combat tactics for dense tropical environments.
PANAMAX 2026, sponsored by U.S. Southern Command, is a multinational exercise centered on simulated threats against the Panama Canal and surrounding area. Hosted by Panama, the exercise began Aug. 3 and is scheduled to conclude Thursday.
Eighteen partner nations are participating, including Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Jamaica.
The developments follow Southcom’s creation earlier this month of Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere, designed to coordinate U.S. military operations with allies and partners, strengthen regional security, respond rapidly to crises and counter regional threats.
The task force is also expected to better integrate military capabilities among the 18 A3C partner nations.
“JTF-WHEM strengthens our ability to work alongside trusted allies and partners, synchronize military capabilities and apply sustained pressure against the networks that threaten our collective security,” Southcom Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan said.
Donovan also traveled through the Panama Canal aboard the USS Gridley earlier this month during his first Panama visit since assuming Southcom’s top post.
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