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“ We will not capitulate ”: 30 years of battle against nuclear waste.

Reporterre 15th Aug 2026,
https://reporterre.net/Nous-ne-capitulerons-pas-30-ans-de-bataille-contre-les-dechets-nucleaires

Opponents of radioactive waste gathered near Bure for a weekend under heavy security. It was an opportunity to reiterate their opposition to the Cigéo project, whose problems threaten to become a defining feature of this century.

This weekend, in a field in Saint-Amand-sur-Ornain (Meuse), about fifteen kilometers from Bure, people will be discussing nuclear waste, listening to lectures and concerts, watching films, and, above all, saying no again. From August 14 to 16, 
the fifth edition of the Bure’lesques festival brings together opponents 
of the Cigéo project , this gigantic facility that the French government and the National Agency for Radioactive Waste Management (Andra) want to dig 500 meters underground to bury the most dangerous radioactive waste produced by France’s nuclear power plants.

The festival will be held under close surveillance. Two decrees issued on August 4 by the prefect of the Meuse have established a particularly wide police presence: prohibitions on transporting various materials, such as wood, pyrotechnic objects or elements to conceal one’s face, restrictions on alcohol, but also the capture and recording of images by two drones and a gendarmerie helicopter.

Read also: ”  We’ve lost a battle but not the war  “: how anti-nuclear activists are continuing the fight

Around forty individuals and fifteen organizations, including the Human Rights League, the French Lawyers’ Union, and the anti-nuclear network Sortir du nucléaire, filed an emergency appeal with the Nancy Administrative Court, denouncing a disproportionate measure and yet another attempt to criminalize opposition to the Cigéo nuclear waste repository project. According to the plaintiffs, some of the restrictions covered 23 municipalities and approximately 300 square kilometers, even though the festival takes place in a field  !

On August 12, the administrative court ruled in their favor on only one point: the use of sound equipment would be permitted. This is the bare minimum for a festival. For the rest, the court determined that the use of drones and a helicopter was not ”  manifestly disproportionate ,  “ given the context surrounding the Cigéo protests.

”  We will not surrender  .”

This only reinforces the feeling among opponents that they are being monitored far beyond their weekend activities. In Bure, the confrontation with the state is nothing new. For nearly thirty years, public meetings, legal appeals, demonstrations, occupations, prosecutions, and police checks have accompanied the project. Generations of activists have now followed one another in the face of an industrial project whose timescale is an invitation to despair.

Reporterre has long followed this battle, documenting both the moments of jubilation and victory, as well as its brutal repression. In the 2000s, opponents bought an old farmhouse to build a “house of resistance,” creating a permanent residence and a focal point for anti-nuclear struggles. In 2013, the boycott of the public consultation gave new impetus to the fight, and then in 2016, the occupation of the Lejuc forest stalled the project for nearly two years. Before the numerous lawsuits and the criminal conspiracy charges attempted to stifle the struggle. Since then, the mobilizations have continued, and the opponents are still searching for a way to block the project.

“  The mindset is to keep fighting ,” assures Corinne François, a member of the Burestop collective, which co-organizes the festival with a myriad of associations. “ This edition is important; we are in a pivotal year: the decision to authorize creation ( DAC ) could be granted at the end of 2026/2027.  ”

”  The mindset is to keep fighting  .”

“ 
 We will not capitulate , 
 ” insists Régine, from the Stop Cigéo coordination, who boasts over thirty-five years (!) of activism. Almost a lifetime spent reminding everyone that this monumental project is a one-way ticket to nuisances 
“ for all eternity”
  . 
” Residents need to understand that as soon as Andra obtains its authorization, work can begin immediately, starting with the clearing of the Lejuc forest. Massive construction projects are on the horizon. ”


If Cigéo is built, its operation must last at least a century. Then the repository will be closed to isolate substances from the biosphere, some of which will remain hazardous for hundreds of thousands of years. Here, time no longer has quite the same consistency as elsewhere. The site’s security will have to become passive: it’s impossible to rely indefinitely on technicians, a state, institutions, or even a civilization to monitor the tunnels. But to get to that point, the project must first be completed.

This is the dizzying feeling that pervades the struggle in Bure. Those who oppose the project today know they will never see its end, should it be completed. The construction site would span generations, and the waste would still be there long after borders, languages, and landscapes have changed.

A decisive step

The project has reached a crucial stage. In January 2023, Andra submitted its application for authorization to create the facility. After nearly three years of review, the Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Authority ( ASNR ) issued a generally favorable opinion at the end of 2025 , concluding that Andra possessed a sufficient knowledge base to proceed with the application, while requesting several additional items (more than 40 in total). The public inquiry was held from May 18 to July 2, 2026 .

The government can now prepare the decree for the Council of State authorizing—or not—the creation of Cigéo. 
“ If Andra obtains the authorization request, it will be based on an iterative process, meaning one that will evolve over time ,” fumes Corinne François.“ 
This is unique in the world. Major projects are budgeted today. Here, it’s complete chaos: they’re going to allocate 7 billion euros for the pilot phase. Then, it’s up to future generations to solve the problems that will arise. “

The two organizations are questioning, among other things, the criteria for declaring an experiment a failure. At what point does a malfunction, a difficulty in retrieving a package, or a deviation from the established models lead to a decision to stop 
 ? Because problems are likely to become commonplace this century. 
” 
 We can imagine what could happen in 150 years, particularly with climate change, political systems, and so on, 
 “ adds Bernard Laponche.
 

This is perhaps where technology and politics intersect. Cigéo is officially presented as a reversible project: future generations must be able to modify the choices, retrieve waste packages, or change the strategy. 
” But the more billions of euros are spent, the more kilometers of tunnels are dug, and the first waste materials are brought down, the more difficult it becomes to reverse course ,  “ says Bernard Laponche.

Under the big tops of the Bure’lesques, behind the acronyms, the cells and the clay, it is ultimately this question that has returned for thirty years: at what point does an experience become a fait accompli 
 ? And how to keep the drive to fight against it 
 ?

August 20, 2026 Posted by | France, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

The Quantum Con: How Chicago’s Southside Became a Sacrificial Altar to the War Machine

Are we as Chicago residents at ease with the unprecedented horrors of quantum and AI warfare coming out of our own backyards?

Pete Hegseth’s Department of War is building America’s largest quantum computing project right here on the Southside of Chicago, to the detriment of not only our city but the world at large. Gov. JB Pritzker has lauded the venture capital project as an unprecedented opportunity to make Illinois the “Silicon Valley of quantum development.” With whose consent? On whose land? And on whose dime?

When examining the backers of the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP), it is difficult to rationalize this $9 billion project as anything but an accelerative altar to militarism. Alongside federal backing from DARPA, investors such as BlackRock, IBM, and Israeli startup Quantum Machines have all cited quantum technology as the next frontier in modern warfare. The military-industrial complex has emphatically doubled down on quantum computing technology and advanced computing in AI alike as the next crucial edges in 21st-century militarism. Indeed, AI technology in warfare is already being used extensively by the US and Israel to terrorize the SWANA region.

Even with the considerable private capital financing already allotted to this project’s troubling Big Tech-war machine alliance, Illinois taxpayers are the top funders of IQMP by far. To the sum of more than 700 million state dollars, the land and water beneath our feet have been sold out to private equity military contracts. As families across our cities starve, as rent costs go up and our unhoused neighbors are continually displaced, we must stop the flow of state and city resources from being directed to a global surveillance state hellbent on mass destruction.

On a local level, the Chicago City Council has unanimously approved the Quantum Park’s construction on three separate occasions, with Mayor Brandon Johnson contributing $5 million from the city’s already strained budget. The contrast between the typical glacial speed of approval from City Council and the suspiciously rapid approval process of this project is jarring to say the least, particularly when one considers the largely uncharted nature of the technology itself.

Southside Together’s campaign against Quantum is an unequivocal stand for people power against the cynical backdrop of Big Tech fatalism.

Southside Together, an organization focused on building people power with working-class Southside residents, collected signatures proposing a non-binding referendum concerning IQMP. The petition asked one question: “Should our local elected officials stop the construction of the IQMP and instead invest directly in community resources?” Non-binding ballot referendums are rarely challenged on the basis of their language, yet this expression of community consensus was struck from the ballot summarily. Southside residents, in particular, breaking the silence on this project have been clearly delineated as a high-priority threat by backing city officials.

Widespread awareness and community dissent could in fact function as IQMP’s death knell. If organizing on the Southside alone has already scared these Big Tech military syndicates into such frantic repression, imagine what genuine citywide resistance to quantum computing development could accomplish in turn.

As Gov. Pritzker and Mayor Johnson push this project through, they are continuing to make the people of Chicago complicit in war crimes across the globe. Do Illinois politicians want this escalation in Big Tech militarism to be their legacy? More importantly, are we as Chicago residents at ease with the unprecedented horrors of quantum and AI warfare coming out of our own backyards?

Southside Together’s campaign against Quantum is an unequivocal stand for people power against the cynical backdrop of Big Tech fatalism. Join the fight today against what quantum tech threatens to do tomorrow.

August 20, 2026 Posted by | technology, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Delusional’: Iran Fires Back At Trump’s Make ‘Hormuz Strait A Territory Of The US’ Ambitions

by Tyler Durden, Monday, Aug 17, 2026 – https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/iran-fires-back-trumps-make-hormuz-strait-territory-us-ambitions-delusions

Predictably, Iran has on Saturday issued a full-throated rejection of President Trump’s Friday evening words related to the status on the conflict and energy transit in the region.

In a speech on New York’s Long Island, Trump introduced the idea of declaring the Strait of Hormuz a US territory. “After we finish defeating Iran, which is being very badly defeated — pretty soon, I’ll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States,” Trump told a crowd of law enforcement officer

“Essentially, that’s what it is. We have the blockade. No ships get through unless we want them to,” he added. He claimed oil prices were coming “way down”.

Some pundits pointed to what seemed like classic hyperbole and his penchant for floating extreme scenarios in off-the-cuff fashion; however, Trump made the statement without any qualifiers other than it will happen when Iran is “badly defeated” by the United States. That seems to be the big if in the future scenario.

A Saturday X response from Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi asserted the US has zero authority to claim the strait:

“The Strait of Hormuz has been Iranian, is Iranian, and will remain Iranian,” he wrote, as translated from Persian to English. “This strait will only be closed and opened under Iran’s command.”

The Iranian official then claimed all of Trump’s assumptions about the conflict were delusional, showing that Washington does “not accept the reality of defeat” and so must stop indulging in its “delusions”.

The Iranians have been reiterating that they will continue to enforce their blockade, also as the US Navy continues blocking imports and exports from Iranian ports.

Tehran continues to present the Oman deal – still pending finalization – as completely independent of US desires and conditions, and so better not interfere:

Iran has reached an agreement with Oman on a shipping route map for the Strait of Hormuz after weeks of technical negotiations, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has told state-run Defa Press.

“Despite US obstruction, the talks have made positive progress over the past three weeks and an agreement has been reached on the shipping route map.”

He added that both sides were still negotiating outstanding issues, including a statement to be issued by Tehran and Muscat, noting that exchanges between the two countries would continue until the process was finalized.

Given the two sides continue holding to conflicting absolutist demands and conditions, there’s a likelihood of further fighting – though it could continue to at a limited, tit-for-tat and slow pace.

Some Republican hawks are calling for some kind of bold military action by Trump, such as ordering the takeover of Kharg Island in order to show the Iranians and the American public that Tehran does not have the upper hand ahead of US November midterm elections.

However, the nearly six months of war so far has tended to demonstrate that each new escalation has not tended to go well for Washington, as Iran digs in its heels and escalates a response in turn.

August 20, 2026 Posted by | Iran, politics international | Leave a comment

Anti-uranium advocates wrest control of public hearing on proposed mine near Navajo Nation

NMDOJ also weighs in on NuFuels’ nuclear license renewal, saying company is making false promises about unproven extraction technology 

By Patrick Lohmann-August 10, 2026 , https://sourcenm.com/2026/08/10/anti-uranium-advocates-wrest-control-of-public-hearing-on-proposed-mine-near-navajo-nation/

GALLUP — A recent hearing meant to inform the public about a new uranium mine proposal near Church Rock instead exposed wounds around the legacy of mining’s impacts on Navajo communities, as well as fresh concerns about whether technology that promises to safely extract the mineral is as clean as the industry claims. 

Laramide Resources, a Canadian mining company, and its subsidiary NuFuels, Inc., held a public hearing Thursday at a casino near Gallup as it seeks a permit from the New Mexico Environment Department to discharge. 

But Navajo anti-mining advocates, as well as those who still remember the cascading consequences  from the 1979 Church Rock mine spill, shouted out repeatedly during the company’s presentation. They expressed frustration that NuFuels would pursue a uranium mine in an area still contending with the biggest uranium spill in the nation’s history, as well as numerous other public health and environmental harms from decades of uranium mining.

About half way through company Vice President Josh Leftwich’s presentation, advocate Jenn Nez slowly got to her feet and walked toward Leftwich, ultimately convincing him to hand her his microphone. 

Through tears, Nez described cancer and other health issues she said uranium contamination caused in her family. Leftwich did not get the microphone back for most of the rest of the 90-minute meeting, as a line of fellow opponents gathered alongside Nez and waited for their chance to speak. 

“Thank you for giving us this opportunity, because we took it from you,” Teracita Keyanna, vice president of the Red Water Pond Road Community Association Executive Committee, told Leftwich. “This is my community. This is my family. That’s my home you’re talking about.”

Leftwich’s presentation centered on a proposed uranium project called Church Rock Section 8, which the company hopes to build on a 175-acre site of private land surrounded by the Navajo Nation, which bans uranium mining. Before Leftwich was interrupted, he detailed how the company sought to use a mining method known as in situ recovery to access roughly 10 million pounds of uranium contained in sandstone formations in the underground aquifer. 

In situ recovery entails the injection of lixiviant — a chemical solution composed of water, oxygen and either carbon dioxide or sodium bicarbonate — to dissolve the uranium underground. From there, pumps extract the uranium liquid into recovery wells, where the uranium is separated. The leftover water is then discharged back into the aquifer. 

“It’s a closed-loop system,” Leftwich said. “There won’t be any other discharges. The water just circulates through the formation to extract the uranium.”

The company’s permit application notes that, when fully operational, it will seek to discharge roughly 4,000 gallons of leftover water a minute back into the aquifer, which provides drinking water to the Crownpoint community. That would be the equivalent of about nine Olympic-size swimming pools’ worth of water a day. 

The company cannot begin mining until the NMED rules on the permit application, which officials said will take at least a year.

Still, Leftwich’s presentation extolled the virtues of in situ recovery as a low-emissions means of extracting uranium without risking the lives of workers underground.

The company would also employ monitoring wells to ensure the water quality meets federal and state standards, and the company is in preliminary stages of a research project with Los Alamos National Laboratories that aims to restore the groundwater supply with “approaches tailored to the geology of the Churchrock deposit.”

However, state officials are dubious about the company’s promises to restore the groundwater to its pre-mining condition. Earlier Thursday, the New Mexico Department of Justice weighed in on the company’s pending license renewal application to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission with a 39-page rebuttal of numerous claims the company has made regarding its operation and in situ recovery more broadly. 

The NMDOJ’s “petition to intervene” argues that in situ recovery has never been proven to restore groundwater supplies to their pre-mining states and that no technology yet exists to do so. It cites NuFuels’ own statements in an unrelated filing before the NRC in 2023, in which the company states that, “to date, no ISR site has restored all groundwater constituents of concern to pre-operational concentrations” and that uranium levels “tend to gradually rebound” in aquifers after the treatment.

Therefore, the NMDOJ wrote, the company has acknowledged “that the technology needed to ensure compliance with the governing restoration standard does not yet exist and that developing it is the object of ongoing research.” 

Advocates who wrested the microphone from Leftwich on Thursday also raised concerns about what they said is untested technology, with one woman shouting that the NuFuels was making “Guinea pigs” out of the communities downstream of the mine site. 

Leftwich told Source NM after the hearing that he was surprised the New Mexico Department of Justice would weigh in on what he sees as a “pretty small issue” regarding a single mine in the Church Rock area, “compared to big issues, like across the state.” 

As for the hearing itself, he said he was content to let people “speak their minds” about the issue, but also that legacy uranium issues and “misinformation” are preventing a productive community debate. The hearing also marked the beginning of a 60-day public comment period. 

“This is the first of hopefully multiple meetings that we can get more in-depth,” he said. “I really wish we could have good meetings.”

August 20, 2026 Posted by | Canada, opposition to nuclear, Uranium | Leave a comment

Colluding with Violence: Aiding Israeli Settlers in the West Bank

18 August 2026 Dr Binoy Kampmark , https://theaimn.net/colluding-with-violence-aiding-israeli-settlers-in-the-west-bank/

The latest incidents of Israeli settler violence in the villages of Qusra and Kour, located in the northern occupied West Bank, have again caught international attention, reaching the halls of the United Nations with a gravity that, sadly, is unlikely to have much effect. Towards the end of July, the settlers had set their sights on local mosques, which they set on fire. From August 9, three families in Qusra – making up 15 people in all – were confined to their homes in terror, running out of food and necessities. (Settlers had deprived them of access to water and power.) 

When Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances attempted to deliver food and water to these homes, they were attacked.  

Unusually, this conduct drew public commentary from the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, a devout Christian Zionist not normally given to criticising Israeli actions in the West Bank, let alone anywhere else. “Actions by those who carried out this horrific act of terror meant to intimidate and harass this family are disgusting,” wrote Huckabee in a post on X. “No excuse for such thuggish behaviour.” The US embassy had been “VERY involved & the IDF & Israel Police have gone at our request to remove the Israeli terrorists doing this.” (More to the point, interest might have been encouraged by the fact that one of the besieged family members was a dual US citizen.)

Rather than restraining the agitators, the Israeli military proceeded to force two of the besieged families, along with six other neighbouring families, to exit their homes for several hours on August 13. UN News reported that families were subsequently relocated to just one home, also imperilled by the settlers. According to the testimony of one resident, “instead of removing the attackers, the Israeli forces removed the attacked families, while allowing the settlers to stay all this time.”

The mayor of Qusra, Abdel Azim Wadi, regarded the role of the Israeli military as pernicious and distinctly not committed to removing the settlers. “We saw them praying together, barbecuing together and dancing together.” They were hardly “interested in helping the besieged families.” The IDF even goes so far as to run a hotline known as War Room C, intended for use by settlers to report on building activities by Palestinians in Area C. The insinuation of fault is clear. The UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner summed up matters: “These criminal actions by the settlers, supported or acquiesced to by Israel, the Occupying power, are making life unbearable for these Palestinian families and are clearly aimed at forcing them to leave their home and their land.”

On August 11, Ramiz Alakbarov, the UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process, told the 15-member Security Council that what was unfolding in the West Bank was the result of “decades of unresolved conflict that has deepened the unlawful Israeli occupation, driven the Palestinian Authority to the brink of collapse and undermined the prospects of an independent, viable and sovereign Palestinian State.”

The picture sketched by Alakbarov is a dismal one, rendering Israeli authorities complicit with the unruly urges of the settlers. (Some 26% of territory in the West Bank is already regarded as “state land,” a status enabling it to be turned over for the construction of new settlements.) Since the start of 2026, approximately 12,360 housing units have beenapproved or advanced by the Israeli authorities in the West Bank. Hefty sums are being allocated for expanding the settlements, including $431 million in aid of 34 new settlements.

The year has also seen the deaths of 76 Palestinians in the territory, due to the work of Israeli forces or settlers. Of this complement, 18 have been children. Three Israelis have also been killed in confrontations with Palestinians. The displacement of the Palestinian population due to settler violence, demolitions and evictions continues with inexorable remorselessness: some 3,800, almost half of them children, have suffered that fate.“Many incidents occurred in the presence of Israeli forces,” insists Alakbarov.

The momentum towards annexation is also being given impetus by plans announced by the Israeli Defence Minister, Israel Katz, to replace the army in the West Bank with civilian police forces. Police would, according to Katz’s office, “establish an appropriate force to handle and address civilian matters,” with the military exclusively tasked with combating “Palestinian terrorism” and protecting borders and communities. The move received much support from various settler figures, with Yisrael Ganz, head of the Regional Binyamin Council in the West Bank, proposing that the next step be “full Israeli sovereignty” over the territory. “The time has come to move from temporary management to the full application of Israeli law.”

The official policy of the Netanyahu government is to regard the attacks as the nasty work of errant juveniles or delinquents who should know better. The thesis on delinquency is not one that holds up when placed alongside the official support for settlement expansion and de facto annexation stemming from Israel proper. The events in Qusra, as with elsewhere in the West Bank, suggest a script of insidious collaboration against the Palestinians, delivered with a forked tongue. The painful implication here is that temporary measures involving the besieging of villagers, and half-hearted efforts by the IDF to combat them, can only inevitably result in dispossession. And that, in the end, is the point.

August 20, 2026 Posted by | Israel, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Russia has accused the UK of “deliberately opting for an escalation of the Ukraine crisis”


BBC 18th Aug 2026

Russia has accused the UK of “deliberately opting for an escalation of the
Ukraine crisis” following confirmation that British-made drones had been
used in strikes on targets in Russia. “In doing so, the United Kingdom is
acting as an accomplice and co-perpetrator of the bloody crimes and
terrorist attacks,” the Russian Embassy to the UK wrote in a statement.


“London’s actions will inevitably carry consequences for which it will have
to answer,” it said, adding that the deeper its involvement in the
conflict, “the higher the price it will pay”. In response, a spokesperson
for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) told BBC News that Britain stood
“shoulder to shoulder” with Ukraine.

August 20, 2026 Posted by | UK, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Enough is Enough

a report submitted by the
Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility
to the
Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission

regarding OPG’s requested
authorization for the
Proposed Pickering B Refurbishment

August 12 2026
Dr. Gordon Edwards, Ph.D. and Dr. Sunil Nijhawan, Ph.D.

Recommendation 1: The Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility regards it asan unreasonable risk to expose the City of Toronto and environs to the unnecessary threat of a devastating nuclear disaster, however low the estimated probability might be. CCNR therefore recommends that CNSC refuse to grant the licence requested byOPG to refurbish and continue to operate four nuclear power reactors (units 5 to 8) atthe Pickering Nuclear Generating Station. This recommendation is reinforced by the

following facts:

(1)There are more than 1.1 million people living within 20 kilometres of Pickering NGS, and twice as many living within a 30-kilometre radius;

(2)Every homeowner’s insurance policy has a “nuclear exclusion clause” which voids coverage in case of radioactive contamination from a nuclear accident’

(3)As recently as 2016, OPG confirmed its earlier decision that refurbishment of the Pickering B reactors even at a lower cost ($10.7 billion) is unjustified

(4)As of 2010, OPG was fully prepared to see its Pickering Nuclear GeneratingStation completely shut down by 2030;

(5)The current estimated cost of refurbishing Pickering B is prohibitively expensive compared to other energy options, both nuclear and non-nuclear.

Gordon Edwards, Ph.D., President,

Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility

August 20, 2026 Posted by | Canada, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Hegseth Announces Expansion Of US Military Sphere Of Operations

During his visit, the Secretary of War announced the signing of agreements and strikes in Latin America and the Caribbean against targets considered a threat to US security.

BreakThrough News, August 14 2026, https://breakthroughnews.org/2026/08/14/us-military-expands-sphere-of-operations-during-hegseth-visit-to-panama/

On August 12, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth visited Panama, where he attended the Coalition of the Americas Against Cartels (A3C). There, he met with ministers, deputy ministers, security and defense chiefs, and several high-ranking military officers from the Shield of the Americas, the new Washington-led regional coalition focused on “combating narcotrafficking”.

In addition to the United States, member countries include Argentina, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Chile, Guatemala, Peru, and the Dominican Republic (and, more recently, Colombia, following the change in government), all of which have declared their political and economic alignment with Washington.

Thus, for a few days, Panama became the hub for planning and meetings among the new international cooperation initiative led by the Trump administration, which has stated that its primary goal is to combat organized crime and cartels.

Following the start of Trump’s second term, the Panamanian government under José Raúl Mulino has aligned itself with Washington’s stance, even going so far as to distance itself from agreements with China regarding the Panama Canal, which Trump himself has threatened to “take back.”

In this regard, Hegseth, on his second trip as Secretary, said: “I look forward to strengthening our partnership to keep the Panama Canal secure and disrupt cartel operations throughout the region.”

However, not all Panamanians welcomed Hegseth’s second visit with open arms. One such group was the National Front for the Defense of Economic and Social Rights (FRENADESO), which rejected the US military presence in their country. “Panama cannot once again become a military platform for any power. We do not want bases, enclaves, or facilities that could use our territory as a springboard for aggression against other peoples and nations. Nor do we accept that decisions made by others turn Panama, its people, or the Canal into military targets in conflicts that are not our own. Our security does not lie in militarization or in subordinating ourselves to the geopolitical interests of a superpower,” FRENADESO stated.

In the statement, FRENADESO also said: “[We must] defend our sovereignty, neutrality, independence, and self-determination, and maintain relations of respect and cooperation with all the peoples of the world. Panama, a land of peace and sovereignty! Neither a platform for aggression nor a military target! Respect for the self-determination of peoples!”

New attacks announced

During his visit to Panama, Hegseth reported that his government plans to launch “ground” attacks against “drug traffickers and terrorists” with the approval of the member governments of Shield of the Americas. This type of operation has already been seen in Ecuador, when US forces claimed to have carried out an attack on Ecuadorian soil alongside the Ecuadorian armed forces.

Furthermore, it is important to recall that the United States has already carried out several attacks in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, where it has sunk over 60 vessels allegedly carrying drugs, resulting in the deaths of over 200 people.

Hegseth warned that attacks could occur “anywhere” drug trafficking groups operate. He stated that US forces hope to deploy, alongside their allies, “an operational capability like the one you saw in the attacks on drug boats [in the Caribbean and the Pacific]… We are working with Ecuador, Colombia, and other partners to take the fight to DTOs (designated terrorist organizations) on land.”

In addition, Hegseth stated that the attacks will be carried out precisely to avoid a judicial process and take direct action: “We’re not going to put them through a judicial process where we know they’ll be released. We’re going to destroy these networks using all the capabilities of the US government,” said the Pentagon chief, perhaps in response to the criticism his administration has received over alleged extrajudicial killings.

The press has reported that, for now, Hegseth has reached agreements with Colombia and Ecuador. Regarding the former, Colombia’s Minister of Defense requested the deployment of US troops on Colombian territory.

“Through the newly inaugurated president… Colombia has already requested that the War Department join Colombia in its fight against narco-terrorism, authorizing joint military operations to destroy terrorists and terrorist networks,” said the Pentagon chief.

According to the Ecuadorian Ministry of Defense, the agreements with Ecuador – though still confidential – aim to establish a framework for the participation of US forces in the South American country.

In this way, the United States plans to expand its presence in Latin America not only through diplomatic and economic channels, but also through military means. The effects that this new series of US military operations will have on the region remain to be seen, and it will be a wait marked by the smell of gunpowder and a great deal of controversy.

BreakThrough News, August 14 2026

August 20, 2026 Posted by | SOUTH AMERICA, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment