Last month, as American war hawks were setting their sights on Venezuela, US troops were sent to Panama for the first time in over a quarter century. The deployment provoked painful memories of the 1989 invasion and further exposes the sham of Panama’s “independence” and “sovereignty.”
“Just Cause”
Between 1983 and 1989, military dictator Manuel Noriega ruled Panama. General Noriega worked with the CIA throughout his career, beginning in the 1950s. In the 1980s, Noriega’s regime served as a key conduit for weapons and cash from the CIA to counterrevolutionary death squads in Nicaragua and El Salvador. In return, the American imperialists backed his dictatorship, and the CIA helped him amass a huge personal fortune through drug trafficking.
Once Noriega was no longer a useful puppet, he was repaid for his services with “Operation Just Cause”—an all-out invasion to remove him. Under the pretext of stopping the flow of drugs and “restoring democracy,” American troops bombed working-class neighborhoods and killed thousands. Residents of Panama City and Coclé saw family members blown to pieces by attack helicopter crossfire, children injured by shrapnel, and homes burned to the ground.
The invasion served as a brutal reminder that American imperialism pulled the strings in Panama.
A “democratic” Panama?
Since 1989, Panama has been ruled by a succession of politically impotent presidents. Constantly mired in corruption scandals, these leaders all sought greater foreign investment and an even closer relationship with the US.
But they have proved unable to address the problems of Panamanian capitalism. A recent World Bank report found that Panama is one of the most unequal countries on earth. 40% of Panamanians work in the informal sector, and unemployment is estimated to be 8%.
Many young people join gangs to survive. A study by the Pan American Health Organization found the homicide rate for boys and young men aged 10–24 was 41.2 per 100,000—nearly triple that of neighboring Costa Rica.
There is a complete lack of faith in the “democratic” institutions and “rule of law” established after the invasion. Only 9% of Panamanians surveyed in May 2025 said the country is headed in the right direction. As long as its rulers remain tied to imperialism by a thousand threads, “sovereign” and “democratic” Panama—set up while fires still raged in Panama City and countless Panamanians were buried in mass graves—is an empty husk.
Countering Chinese economic influence
With US imperialism in decline, the Panamanian ruling class is looking east for a new master. In 2017, Panama joined the Belt and Road Initiative. Chinese investment in Panama quadrupled between 2017 and 2023, while US investment declined.
Last year, the knives came out. Trump raised the idea of seizing the country’s eponymous canal by force, accusing China of plotting to take it over. Despite President Mulino’s bluster about sovereignty being “non-negotiable,” Panama quietly exited the Belt and Road Initiative after a visit from Marco Rubio. A legal battle ensued over the ownership of Chinese assets around the canal.
The message—not only to the rest of Latin America, but to China as well—is clear: encroach on America’s “backyard” and face the consequences.
Imperialism out of Panama and all of Latin America!
Panama remains pliant in the hands of finance capital, while the outlook for workers worsens. The strategists of American imperialism look back fondly on the 1989 invasion as an example of regime change “done right.” Given the chance, the US won’t hesitate to apply the same brutality to any country in Latin America.
If Venezuela suffers the fate of post-invasion Panama, it will be a social catastrophe for the working masses. Despite Trump’s perfidious rhetoric, regime change will do nothing to stem drug trafficking, which leaders like Mulino denounce in speeches but quietly rely upon to keep their parasitic class afloat.
Neither American nor Chinese imperialism can solve the problems of Panamanian society. As long as the world is divided between competing imperialist powers, the only solution for workers in Latin America—and the entire world—is class struggle and revolution.