The U.S. Embassy in Panama has denied a report that the Pentagon is deploying 600 soldiers to the Central American country as part of an expanded campaign against drug trafficking, confirming instead that 120 American troops are participating in a temporary jungle training mission.
"The New York Times publication alleging the deployment of 600 U.S. soldiers to Panama is categorically false," the embassy said in a statement reported by Spanish news agency EFE.
The statement responded to a New York Times investigation published on Wednesday, which reported that the Pentagon had begun sending troops from a roughly 600-member battalion of the Army's 10th Mountain Division to a jungle training facility in Panama.
Citing anonymous military officials, the newspaper linked the reported deployment to a broader expansion of U.S. anti-cartel operations in Latin America, including potential military exercises in Colombia and Honduras and support for local forces conducting raids against suspected traffickers.
The embassy disputed the Panama deployment figure, as Infobae reports, saying that 120 soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division were attending a two-week training course and would return to Fort Drum, New York, on October 25.
It also clarified that the training center was not newly established. According to the embassy, the facility has operated for more than a year, with American and Panamanian instructors jointly teaching jungle survival and military operations. The soldiers are in Panama at the invitation of its government, the embassy said, adding that U.S. personnel return to their home units after completing their training.
The statement did not specifically address the newspaper's broader reporting about possible exercises in Colombia and Honduras.
On October 7 another New York Times investigation also reported that the United States had transferred an unspecified number of MQ-9 Reaper drones from Africa to Colombia and Ecuador to support operations against organized crime. The aircraft are primarily used for intelligence gathering, reconnaissance and surveillance, although they can also carry precision weapons.
Colombia had previously agreed to receive three Reaper drones, while Ecuador had reportedly received two. Both countries have expanded military cooperation with Washington, including agreements on joint operations against designated criminal organizations.
The embassy's denial leaves the reported 600-soldier deployment to Panama in dispute, without resolving the wider questions about the Pentagon's regional plans.
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