Washington, DC - Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will visit Panama next week, the Pentagon said Friday, after President exerted significant pressure on the country to curb ties with interests.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will visit Panama next week, the Pentagon said Friday. © Collage: MARTIN BERNETTI / AFP & CHIP SOMODEVILLA / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP
Hegseth will participate in the Central American Security Conference and will "meet with partner-nation senior civilian, military, and security leadership in a series of bilateral meetings," Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
The talks will "drive ongoing efforts to strengthen our partnerships with Panama and other Central American nations toward our shared vision for a peaceful and secure Western Hemisphere," he said.
Tensions between the US and Panama spiraled this year over Trump's to "take back" the Panama Canal, including .
Panama has made several concessions to Trump, including putting pressure on a Hong Kong company that operated ports on the Panama Canal to pull out.
The last US soldier left Panama on December 31, 1999 – the day the US, which built the Panama Canal, relinquished control of the crucial shipping route.
