The regional expansion includes troop training in Colombia and Honduras and the placement of MQ-9 Reaper drones in Colombia and Ecuador. U.S. commanders are planning to transition from maritime strikes to land-based targets and are establishing a new Western Hemisphere military command in Miami. Analyst Adam Wola characterized the troop surge as the largest single deployment in recent memory, outside of a natural disaster or an invasion.
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
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Hegseth Deploys 600 Soldiers to Panama Despite US Embassy Denial
War4 days ago
The Pentagon is intensifying its military engagement across Latin America to disrupt drug trafficking networks. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is directing the deployment of 600 soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division to Panama, an escalation that follows an official denial from the U.S. Embassy in Panama which had previously called reports of such a movement "categorically false." The mobilization marks a broadening of the Trump administration's counter-cartel campaign in the region.
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