MoU Allowing U.S. Military Presence in Panama is Unconstitutional: Sevillano
Protests against U.S. military presence in Panama, Feb. 2025. X/ @Entredostv1
April 17, 2025 Hour: 9:51 am
The document violates the Panamanian Constitution and the Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality of the Panama Canal.
On Wednesday, attorney Juan Sevillano filed a lawsuit with the Constitutional Court challenging the constitutionality of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on April 9 between Panama’s Security Ministry and the U.S. Department of Defense.
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Sevillano argues that the MoU violates the Panamanian Constitution and the Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality of the Panama Canal. In support of his claim, the attorney recalled that U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to retake the Panama Canal by any means.
The Panamanian lawyer denounced that these threats materialized through visits by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth—two officials who echoed the falsehoods spread by Trump regarding the interoceanic waterway.
The agreement signed between Hegseth and Panama’s Defense Minister, Frank Abrego, seeks to deploy a foreign military force in areas adjacent to the Canal, with an unlimited number of objectives and equipment, under the guise of joint training operations. This, Sevillano pointed out, even exceeds the constitutional powers granted to Abrego under Panamanian law.
This project violates the Panama Canal Neutrality Treaty, which states that “only Panama shall manage the Canal and maintain military forces, defense sites, and military installations within its national territory,” Sevillano reminded.
The lawyer also emphasized that the MoU allows for any other type of activity, “such that, if the Panamanian government consents to U.S. troops suppressing protests in our country, for whatever reason or cause, they will be shielded by this memorandum.”
Sevillano recalled that the Panamanian Constitution requires all matters related to the protection of the interoceanic waterway to be submitted for consideration by the National Assembly and a public referendum. For that reason, “no amendment, reservation, or understanding shall be valid if it does not meet these requirements,” he stressed.
The Panamanian attorney further denounced that President Jose Mulino has yielded to Trump’s pressure and called on the judiciary not to remain indifferent to these abuses, urging it to consider the Panamanian people’s historic struggle to reclaim the Canal.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: teleSUR
