Panama agrees to host two U.S. naval bases
MEXICO, September 27 (RIA Novosti) - Panama will sign before October 2009 a treaty with the United States on the opening of two U.S. naval bases on its territory, a senior Panamanian government official said on Sunday. According to Panama's La Prensa newspaper, a preliminary agreement was reached between Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during recent talks in New York. "The U.S. and Panama will sign before October 30 an agreement on the deployment of two naval bases on the pacific coast of our country to fight international drug-trafficking," said Minister of Government and Justice Jose Raul Mulino. "One of the bases will be located in Bahia Pina...450 kilometers [280 miles] east of the capital, Panama City, and another one - in Punta Coca about 350 km [217 miles] west of the capital," Mulino added. The U.S. government will also allocate additional $7 million to Panama this year for the fight against organized crime and illicit drug trade. According to Panamanian intelligence, there are over 2,000 hideouts on the Pacific coast of Panama, which international drug cartels use as transshipment bases for narcotics shipped from South America to the United States. All U.S. bases in Panama were closed and U.S. military forces left the country at the end of 1999 in accordance with the Panama Canal treaties.
Editor's Comment: I've already received questions asking "is this true?" At this point it looks to be perfectly legitimate, and I have nothing to indicate otherwise. It was all over the news wires this weekend. And, it makes perfect sense. Panama has now had ten years to get their "mojo" back after nearly 100 years of US domination. By locating these bases in relatively remote areas, away from the Panama Canal and Panama City, any US military personnel stationed there will be pretty much out of sight and out of mind. Of course, expect a few rabid radicals to make some noise, but the mission of these bases is clearly ant drug operations and regional security. And for the record, this is exactly what I predicted would happen back in 1998 and 1999 when negotiations broke down between the US government and the administration of Ernesto Perez Balladares for a continued US military presence in Panama. I figured then it would take about ten years or two full administrations to cycle through. And besides, this is a win-win for everyone. The US military will now come in and spend a bunch of money to build these facilities and make them nice. Great news for Panama, really bad news for drug traffickers.
