Panamá Rises: Sovereignty, Strikes and the Shadow of U.S. Power
Mexico City, June 2025 — While major headlines remain focused elsewhere, Panamá is quietly rising beyond the mainstream media. For months, tens of thousands of people have filled the streets, protesting rising prices, government reforms, and a deepening sense that the country's wealth is being stolen from them. A growing agitation is a canal that moves billions in global trade each year, and the return of U.S. troops, decades after their withdrawal.
“You don’t play with the canal,” an Uber driver told La Vanguardia journalist Andy Robinson during a recent trip to Panamá. “We’re very mobilized.”
Panamá’s protests are not new, but they’ve reached a boiling point. Fueled by economic injustice and growing government repression, the movement has become a powerful rejection of multiple forms of foreign interference, including international financial institutions, the natural resource extraction industry, the recent return of U.S. troops, and transnational corporations.
A Country of Contrasts
Panamá may be famous for its canal, but it’s also one of the most unequal countries in Latin America. In 2024, the Panamá Canal Authority (an autonomous agency of the Panamánian Government) generated nearly $5 billion in revenue. This income represents roughly 4% of Panamá 's GDP, yet many citizens struggle to afford basic goods. The PCA is an efficient and transparent authority, but Robinson noted that “the problem is when the money leaves the canal authority and enters the government’s coffers.” There, corruption and mismanagement distort the intended benefits of national wealth.
The capital’s skyline, filled with glittering towers and international banks, stands in stark contrast to nearby neighborhoods suffering from poverty and neglect. In the port city of Colón, buildings crumble and unemployment is high.
“It looks like a movie set after a disaster,” Robinson shared on a recent episode of the podcast WTF is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean. “And yet, just a few miles away, you have some of the wealthiest people in the region.”
The Spark: Reforms That Hurt the Working Class
The protests began in response to government proposals to privatize parts of the pension system: a move that would cut retirement benefits by up to 30% for ordinary workers. These kinds of reforms, often encouraged by international financial institutions, are common in many countries. They tend to benefit large financial firms while hurting retirees and public workers.
For many Panamánians, it felt like the last straw. Over the past few years, they’ve faced increasing costs of living, stagnant wages, and environmental degradation from foreign-run mines. The Cobre Panamá mine (operated by Canadian company First Quantum), one of the world's largest open-pit copper mines, remains closed following protests in late 2023 sparked by public opposition to a new mining contract and dissatisfaction with the government. The mine continues to be a flashpoint for laborers and environmentalists.
Then Came the Soldiers
In April, Panamánian President José Raúl Mulino met with U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. By June, U.S. military units were deployed near the Canal Zone with the government citing a growing threat from China as justification.
The perceived threat is that of China-based CK Hutchinson Holdings owning container terminals along the canal. But, as Alina Duarte, co-host of WTF is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean, pointed out, the same company owns container terminals in Veracruz, Mexico, where no U.S. troops have been deployed. This contradiction has led many Panamánians to see the China narrative as an excuse for the reintroduction of U.S. troops in their country.
“We’ve been here before,” added Duarte. “This is what U.S. foreign policy has looked like for decades: economic pressure, military presence, and control over local governments.”
The last time U.S. troops were stationed in Panamá was before the 1999 handover of the canal, when the U.S. finally relinquished direct control. Their return now is reigniting old wounds.
A History of Resistance
Panamá has a long and painful history with U.S. intervention. In 1964, U.S. troops shot and killed 22 student protesters who were demanding sovereignty over the canal. In 1989, the United States invaded Panamá in a violent operation to remove military leader Manuel Noriega. Hundreds of civilians died.
For many Panamánians, the current troop deployment feels like history repeating itself.
Robinson shared that Panamánian writer Juan David Morgan described the feeling this way: “For a long time, our national religion was ‘The canal is ours.’ Now, (with the redeployment of US troops) we’ve got that religion back again.”
A Movement United and Under Threat
Today’s movement includes teachers, construction workers, farmers, students, and labor unions. The most prominent union, SUNTRACS, represents thousands of construction workers and has played a leading role in the strikes and blockades. Its leader, Saul Méndez, is now in hiding inside the Bolivian embassy in Panamá City, facing police threats for organizing the protests.
Daily marches and demonstrations continue in various areas of Panamá, particularly in Veraguas and Bocas del Toro. The government has declared a state of emergency in Bocas del Toro province while attempting to negotiate as strikers persevere. Unions have rejected conditional talks tied to ending the strike.
Other workers, like those at Chiquita, the banana company, also went on strike. In retaliation, Chiquita refused to honor labor agreements, and reports suggest over $10 million in product losses during the disruption. Workers and the government, eventually, reached an agreement on pension reforms, which ended the strike against Chiquita and provided the reinstatement of some workers. However, Chiquita, citing an estimated $75 million in overall financial losses, ultimately decided to cease operations in Panamá and laid off all of its workers.
Robinson warns that the situation is deteriorating. “Six weeks ago, people felt hopeful,” he said. “Now we’re seeing arrests, police violence, and military pressure.”
The Bigger Picture: What Panamá Tells Us
This isn’t only about Panamá. Across Latin America — in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru — similar uprisings have occurred over the past five years. In each case, economic reforms pushed by governments have been met with protests, and governments have often responded with force.
The same pattern is seen: austerity, inequality, foreign pressure, and popular resistance.
In the United States, these issues aren’t far from home. Americans are also facing rising costs, underfunded social programs, and increased surveillance and policing. The struggles may look different, but the root causes — privatization, foreign policy overreach, and corporate greed — are strikingly familiar themes linking North and South.
“U.S. foreign policy is coming home,” emphasized WTF is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean co-host Teri Mattson.
Why Panamá Matters
Panamá is more than a shipping lane. It’s a symbol of the fight for sovereignty, justice, and dignity in a global system that often prioritizes profits over people. And right now, its people are in the streets, demanding to be heard.
Introduced to Mesoamerican Anthropology and Archaeology in the sixth grade, Teri's lifelong passion for Latin America & the Caribbean has inspired 40+ years of travel and activism throughout the region. The past few years include organizing and/or participating on educational, electoral and media delegations to: Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and Venezuela.
Teri volunteers with the CODEPINK Latin America Team. Her writing can be found at Anti-War.com, CommonDreams, Jacobin, and LAProgressive. Additionally, she hosts and co-produces the YouTube program and podcast WTF is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean.
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