JUAN ZAMORANO

Associated Press
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a press conference in Panama City, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Hegseth says China’s military presence in Western Hemisphere is ‘too large’
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has again put China at the center of U.S. priorities in the Western Hemisphere, one day after calling the world power a threat to the Panama Canal.
 
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks at Port of Rodman in West Panama, Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
US defense secretary says China is a threat to Panama Canal, spurring a fiery response from Beijing
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the Panama Canal faces threats from China but together the U.S. and Panama will keep it secure.
 
Luis Sanchez, center, sits with other Venezuelan migrants on a boat leaving Gardi Sugdub on Panama's Caribbean coast, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, after giving up hopes of reaching the U.S. while in southern Mexico amid President Trump's crackdown on migration. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
They crossed the Darien Gap to reach the US. Now, boat-by-boat, migrants are returning
They once braved the jungles of the Darien Gap, trekking days along the perilous migrant passage dividing Colombia and Panama with a simple goal: seek asylum in the U.S.
 
Migrants deported from the United States wave to the press from inside a hotel in Panama City, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Agustin Herrera)
Panama sends 97 deportees from US to the Darien camp after they refused to return to their countries
Panama has transferred about one-third of the deportees from various nations it had received from the United States to a camp in its Darien province Wednesday, an area that became the main thoroughfare for migrants traveling from South America to the U.S. border in recent years.
 
Panama's Minister of Public Security Frank Alexis Abrego, speaks to reporters after watching people board a repatriation flight bound for Colombia at Albrook Airport in Panama City, Feb. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
Nearly 300 deportees from US held in Panama hotel as officials try to return them to their countries
Panama is detaining in a hotel nearly 300 people from various countries deported by the United States, not allowing them to leave while waiting for international authorities to organize a return to their countries.
 
Panama's President Jose Mulino, left, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrive for a meeting at the presidential palace in Panama City, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)
Rubio says Panama must reduce Chinese influence around the canal or face possible US action
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told Panama’s president that the country must reduce Chinese influence over the Panama Canal area or face potential retaliation from the Trump administration.
 
A cargo ship traverses the Agua Clara Locks of the Panama Canal in Colon, Panama, Sept. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
Panama, familiar with US intervention, bristles at Trump’s comments on canal
President Donald Trump’s insistence that he wants to have the Panama Canal back under U.S. control is feeding nationalist sentiment and worry in Panama, home to the critical trade route and a country familiar with U.S. military intervention.
 
People march during a demonstration marking Martyrs' Day, a national day of mourning to honor the 21 Panamanians who were killed during the January 1964 anti-American riots over sovereignty of the Panama Canal Zone, in Panama City, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Agustin Herrera)
Panama marks Martyrs’ Day as Trump threatens to retake control of Panama Canal
A Panamanian national holiday remembering the killing of 21 protesters by police and U.S. troops in 1964 is taking on new resonance this year as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatens to take back control of the Panama Canal.
 
Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino, left, receives from Venezuela's opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia a copy of Venezuela's 2024 election tallies at the presidential palace in Panama City, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Agustin Herrera)
Venezuelan opposition leader rallies support in Panama ahead of Maduro inauguration
Self-exiled Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González is rallying regional support for the opposition’s claims that he won the July election against President Nicolás Maduro.
 
A cargo ship traverses the Agua Clara Locks of the Panama Canal in Colon, Panama, Sept. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
Panama celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Panama Canal handover as Trump wants to take it back
Panama is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the U.S. handover of the Panama Canal, which President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to take back.
 
President Jimmy Carter views the Panama Canal at the Miraflores Locks in Canal Zone on June 17, 1978. On Friday Carter signed the final Panama Canal Treaties giving control of the canal to Panama in 2000. (AP Photo/Tasnadi, File)
A history of the Panama Canal — and why Trump can’t take it back on his own
President-elect Donald Trump is decrying rising shipping fees Panama has imposed to use the Panama Canal.
 
Migrants arrive to Lajas Blancas, Panama, after trekking across the Darien Gap from Colombia in hopes of reaching the U.S., Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Venezuelans crossing the Darien Gap say they lost hope after July’s election
Venezuelans trekking across the Darien Gap – a rugged jungle passage between Colombia and Panama – say they’re making the perilous journey because they lost hope for change following a contentious presidential election in which President Nicolás Maduro was declared winner despite vote tallies releas
 
Chilean journalist Eva Vergara poses for a portrait in Santiago, Chile, Monday, Aug. 26, 2019. Vergara, who worked for four decades with The Associated Press until late 2023, died Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. She was 68 years old. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
Eva Vergara, longtime AP Chile correspondent, dies at 68
Former AP correspondent in Chile, Eva Vergara, who covered stories including the first protests against the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet and revealed key information about abuses by members of the Catholic Church, died on Tuesday.
 
Migrants travel on a boat to Lajas Blancas, Panama, Friday, June 28, 2024, after walking across the Darien Gap from Colombia. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
10 migrants drown in rushing river crossing Darien Gap in Panama
Ten migrants have drowned trying to cross a rushing river in Panama’s Darien Gap that borders Colombia.
 
FILE - Venezuelan migrant Minorca Parra holds her daughter Karin Alvear as she lines up to receive food in a temporary camp after crossing the Darien Gap from Colombia in Lajas Blancas, Panama, June 27, 2024. Migration through the Darien Gap dividing Colombia and Panama has declined significantly this month since Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino took office and ordered authorities to get control of the dense jungle frontier, the country’s border police said Wednesday, July 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
Panama says migration through border with Colombia is down since President Mulino took office
Panama’s border police says that migration through the Darien Gap dividing Colombia and Panama has declined significantly this month since Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino took office and ordered authorities to get control of the dense jungle frontier.
 
New Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino gives a speech at his swearing-in ceremony at the Atlapa Convention Centre in Panama City, Monday, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
José Raúl Mulino sworn in as Panama’s new president, promises to stop migration through Darien Gap
José Raúl Mulino has been sworn in as Panama’s next president, facing pressure to slow migration through the Darien Gap that connects his country with Colombia.
 
Venezuela migrant Naiber Zerpa holds her son Mathias Marquez as they arrive at a temporary camp after walking across the Darien Gap from Colombia, in Lajas Blancas, Panama, Friday, June 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Panama’s next president wants a deal with US on deporting migrants who cross the perilous Darien Gap
Panama’s President-elect José Raúl Mulino says he wants an agreement with the United States on deporting migrants who cross into the world’s busiest migration route, the perilous Darien Gap, along his country’s border with Colombia.
 
Residents from the island of Gardi Sugdub walk to their new homes on the mainland in Nuevo Carti on Panama's Caribbean coast, Wednesday, June 5, 2024. About 300 families are moving to the mainland as government officials and scientists expect communities along Panama’s Caribbean and Pacific coasts to be forced to relocate by rising sea levels in the coming decades. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Panama community pushed from Caribbean island by rising sea levels moves into new houses
Hammocks have begun appearing this week in the doorways of 300 new houses built in what was previously a yucca field along Panama’s Caribbean coast.
 
Buildings cover Gardi Sugdub Island, part of San Blas archipelago off Panama's Caribbean coast, Saturday, May 25, 2024. Due to rising sea levels, about 300 Guna Indigenous families will relocate to new homes, built by the government, on the mainland. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Panama prepares to evacuate first island in face of rising sea levels
The Gunas of Gardi Sugdub are the first of 63 communities along Panama’s Caribbean and Pacific coasts that government officials and scientists expect to be forced to relocate by rising sea levels in the coming decades.
 
Presidential candidate Jose Raul Mulino, of the Achieving Goals party, shakes hands with supporters after winning the general election, in Panama City, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Panama’s new president-elect, José Raúl Mulino, was a late entry in the race
In a historic and tumultuous election in Panama, José Raúl Mulino has landed in the role of president-elect despite not even expecting to be the candidate a few months ago.
 
Presidential candidate Jose Raul Mulino, of the Achieving Goals party, celebrates after winning on the day of the general electing in Panama City, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Last-minute candidate José Raúl Mulino wins Panama’s presidential election
José Raúl Mulino, the stand-in for former President Ricardo Martinelli in Panama’s presidential election, is on his way to becoming the new leader of the Central American nation.
 
Achieving Goals presidential candidate Jose Raul Mulino holds a press conference after meeting with members of the Electoral Observation Mission, in Panama City, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Panama will hold general elections on May 5. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Panama Supreme Court rejects challenge to candidacy of presidential frontrunner days before vote
Panama’s Supreme Court has rejected a constitutional challenge to the candidacy of leading presidential contender José Raúl Mulino. The move removes an element of uncertainty two days before the May 5 vote.
 
The presidential candidate of Achieving Goals, Jose Raul Mulino, addresses supporters during a campaign rally in Panama City, Sunday, April 28, 2024. Panama will hold general elections on May 5. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Panama’s leading presidential candidate is a late entry promising a return to better times
The leading candidate to be Panama’s next president is a last-minute stand-in who promises to return the Central American country to a boom time that experts say will be difficult to recapture.
 
The Supreme Court stands in Panama City, Monday, April 8, 2024 as the trial starts for those charged in connection with the worldwide “Panama Papers” money laundering case. (AP Photo/Agustin Herrera)
Panama Papers trial’s public portion comes to an unexpectedly speedy end
The public portion of a Panamanian trial of more than two-dozen associates accused of helping some of the world’s richest people hide their wealth has come to an unexpectedly speedy conclusion.
 
The Supreme Court stands in Panama City, Monday, April 8, 2024 as the trial starts for those charged in connection with the worldwide “Panama Papers” money laundering case. (AP Photo/Agustin Herrera)
A trial is underway for the Panama Papers, a case that changed the country’s financial rules
Eight years after 11 million leaked secret financial documents revealed how some of the world’s richest people hide their wealth, more than two dozen defendants are on trial in Panama for their alleged roles.
 
Presidential candidate Jose Raul Mulino, center, campaigns in the San Miguelito neighborhood of Panama City, Wednesday, April 10, 2024. The former foreign minister is one of eight candidates competing in the upcoming May 5th presidential election. (AP Photo/Agustin Herrera)
Panama’s presidential frontrunner skips third and final debate ahead of May 5 election
Six of the eight candidates vying to be Panama’s next president have laid out their plans to generate jobs and to manage the country’s water crisis in their final debate before the country’s May 5 election.
 
Panamanians celebrate after the Supreme Court declared a 20-year contract with a Canadian copper mine unconstitutional, in Panama City, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. Panama's Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the concession that has been the focus of widespread environmental protests was unconstitutional, after which the president of the Central American country said the process to close the mine would begin. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)
Panama’s high court declared a mining contract unconstitutional. Here’s what’s happening next
Panama’s Supreme Court unanimously declared that legislation granting a Canadian copper mine a 20-year concession was unconstitutional.
 
Panamanians celebrate after the Supreme Court declared a 20-year contract with a Canadian copper mine unconstitutional, in Panama City, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. Panama's Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the concession that has been the focus of widespread environmental protests was unconstitutional, after which the president of the Central American country said the process to close the mine would begin. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)
Panama’s Supreme Court declares 20-year contract for Canadian copper mine unconstitutional
Panama’s Supreme Court has unanimously declared a 20-year concession for a Canadian copper mine that had sparked weeks of protests as unconstitutional.
 
Demonstrators tear down a police barricade during a protest against a recently approved mining contract between the government and Canadian mining company First Quantum, in Panama City, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)
Panama’s Assembly looks to revoke contract for Canadian mining company after public outcry
Panama’s government has nearly approved a new bill revoking a controversial mining contract. A Canadian company’s local subsidiary had been approved for at least 20 years more mining two weeks ago. The move sparked nationwide outrage and protests.
 
A striking teacher wearing a Halloween costume protests against a recently approved mining contract between the government and Canadian mining company First Quantum outside the National Assembly, in Panama City, Monday, Oct. 30, 2023. Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo announced a referendum on Dec. 17, to define the future of the contract. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)
Panama’s leader calls for referendum on mining concession, seeking to calm protests over the deal
Protests in Panama have extended into a second week over a long-term copper mining concession for a Canadian company. Panama’s government sought to calm anger by promising Monday to let Panamanians decide in a referendum whether to scrap the deal.
 
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