A PANAMANIAN opposition leader denounced the government for allowing “an invasion without firing a shot” at the weekend, after it agreed to allow US troops to deploy in the country.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth revealed on Thursday he had signed deals with Panama to “protect the Panama Canal from Chinese influence.”

The local chapter of Transparency International, as well as the opposition Another Way Movement, are demanding that Panama publish details of its secret agreements with the US, which are understood to involve US troops moving into three former bases, and “first and free” access for the US Navy throughout the waterway.

Another Way leader Ricardo Lombana said “no matter what you call it, what we’ve read in the memo is the establishment of military bases.”

No US troops have been deployed to Panama since 1999. The country has bitter memories of the US invasion of 1989, with estimates of civilian deaths ranging from the hundreds to several thousand.

Mr Lombana, who said Panama had been invaded without firing a shot, said the government was “limping and kneeling” under US pressure. It has already withdrawn from the Chinese-led Belt and Road Project, which funds infrastructure development, following criticism from Washington.

Control of the canal, through which about 5 per cent of all traded goods worldwide passes each year, has been a prominent demand of US President Donald Trump. 

US pressure was widely cited as the reason Hong Kong-based firm CK Hutchison agreed to sell two port facilities near the Panama Canal to US investment firm Blackrock, the world’s biggest asset manager. CK Hutchison is now refusing to sign off on the deal, having come under pressure in turn from Chinese authorities.

Mr Trump has expressed wider concerns about China’s domination of global shipbuilding and shipping, proposing hefty fees for Chinese-built ships to dock in US ports, though these may be reduced following a backlash from US importers, just as he has just exempted computers and smartphones from the tariffs imposed in Chinese products. 

China builds 1,000 ocean-going ships a year, compared to just 10 built in the United States.