Panama has allowed the deployment of US military personnel in areas bordering the Panama Canal and in its immediate vicinity, according to a bilateral agreement with the US, which was published last night by the Panamanian government, Agence France-Presse reported, quoted by BTA.
However, the agreement excludes the possibility of building military bases.
The US armed forces and private military companies hired by the US "will be able to use the authorized sites, facilities and designated areas for exercises and humanitarian activities," the agreement signed by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegsett and his Panamanian counterpart Frank Abrego says.
US President Donald Trump last night threatened Mexico with sanctions and tariffs because, according to him, the country is not complying with an 81-year-old water treaty, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
"Mexico owes Texas 1.3 million acre-feet (about 1.6 billion cubic meters) of water under the 1944 Water Treaty, but unfortunately Mexico is violating its obligations", Trump wrote on his social network "Truth Social".
"My Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins is on the side of Texas farmers and we will continue to increase the consequences, including tariffs and perhaps even sanctions, until Mexico complies with the treaty and gives Texas the water it is owed,", he added.
According to the 1944 treaty, Mexico must provide the United States with 1.75 million acre-feet (about 1.6 billion cubic meters) of water every five years. acre-feet (2.16 billion cubic meters) of water from the Rio Grande River through a system of interconnected dams and reservoirs.
The current five-year cycle is due to end in October, but so far Mexico has provided less than 30% of the agreed volume, according to data from the International Boundary and Water Commission.
In response, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she was confident that an agreement with the United States on the water treaty would be reached.
After Trump commented on the issue, she wrote on the social network “Ex“ that Mexico had already sent a proposal to deliver water to neighboring Texas on Wednesday.
Mexican authorities regularly point to historic droughts fueled by climate change as an obstacle to meeting their water commitments, Reuters notes.
A federal judge last night blocked the administration of President Donald Trump to revoke the temporary legal status of hundreds of thousands of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans in the United States, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Boston District Court Judge Indira Talwani issued her order after ruling that the Department of Homeland Security's decision to cut two-year parole granted to migrants during the administration of former President Joe Biden was based on an incorrect reading of the law.
The judge, appointed by former Democratic President Barack Obama, said the Trump administration sought to subject about 450,000 people to expedited deportation by April 24 based on an incorrect interpretation of the law governing the process.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court order requiring the Trump administration to facilitate the return to the United States of a citizen of Salvador, who was mistakenly deported to his homeland by the government in Washington.
On April 4, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered the White House to "facilitate and effect the return" of Kilmar Abrego Garcia after he and his family challenged his deportation in court.
The Salvadoran immigrant, who had been living in Maryland and had a work permit since 2019, was stopped and detained by U.S. immigration officials on March 12 and questioned about his alleged involvement in a criminal gang.
He was deported to El Salvador on March 15 along with alleged members of Venezuelan criminal gangs.
On April 7, the Justice Department admitted to the Supreme Court that Garcia's deportation to El Salvador was an "administrative error" but his removal from the United States was "not an error".