Javier Martínez-Acha Vásquez is Panama’s Minister of Foreign Affairs (often called the foreign minister or “canciller”). He was appointed by President José Raúl Mulino for the 2024–2029 administration and is responsible for directing Panama’s foreign policy, representing the country abroad, and managing its diplomatic relations, including meetings like this one with the U.S. Secretary of State.
While the readout only says “expanded security cooperation,” current U.S.–Panama practice shows it typically includes: (1) joint operations and exercises such as the long‑running PANAMAX exercise and other deployments involving U.S. and Panamanian forces; (2) joint and combined training, for example U.S. Marines training alongside Panama’s National Aeronaval Service to improve interdiction and defense capabilities; (3) intelligence and information sharing on drug trafficking and transnational crime; and (4) regional security conferences like the Central America Security Conference (CENTSEC), which focus on coordinating defense, border, and cybersecurity efforts among partners in the region.
Public reporting indicates Panama has recently focused on protecting several types of critical infrastructure: (1) the Panama Canal’s digital and operational systems, through a new cyber‑cooperation arrangement with U.S. Southern Command to reinforce cybersecurity and keep canal operations running amid cyber threats; (2) broader canal security, with calls and initiatives for enhanced joint U.S.–Panama measures to protect the waterway from foreign interference and disruptions; and (3) national cyber and physical infrastructure more generally, in partnership with the United States, as recommended by security studies that emphasize strengthening Panama’s cyber defenses and security forces that protect ports, energy, and transport hubs. The readout does not list specific measures beyond welcoming Panama’s “steps to protect critical infrastructure.”
Regional efforts to promote stability in Venezuela are a mix of diplomatic, economic, and humanitarian initiatives. They currently include: (1) negotiation and mediation formats supported by regional and international actors (for example, talks facilitated or backed by countries such as Norway and by regional groupings and the UN, aimed at a political agreement and credible elections); (2) coordinated pressure and incentives from governments in the Americas and Europe to push the Maduro government toward negotiations and to deter deeper alignment with Russia and China; and (3) UN‑ and regionally supported humanitarian responses to Venezuela’s crisis and its refugee flows, which are meant to ease instability in neighboring countries. The readout only generally refers to “regional efforts to promote stability in Venezuela” and does not specify which of these tracks Panama and the U.S. are focusing on in this meeting.
Narcotrafficking is the illegal production, transport, and sale of drugs (such as cocaine) by criminal organizations. Panama is heavily affected because its territory, ports, and the Panama Canal sit on a main corridor for moving South American cocaine toward North America and Europe. This transit role has led to Panama becoming a hub for cocaine shipments, money laundering, and other illicit trade, which in turn fuels corruption, violence, and strain on law‑enforcement and judicial systems. Other Central American and Caribbean countries along these routes face similar problems, including high levels of violence, infiltration of state institutions, and economic distortion linked to drug profits.
Thomas “Tommy” Pigott is the U.S. State Department’s Principal Deputy Spokesperson, a senior communications official who briefs the press and issues statements on behalf of the Department. He has served in that role since March 2025. Some readouts are attributed to him because routine statements and summaries of diplomatic meetings are often delivered by the spokesperson’s office rather than by the Secretary of State personally; attributing them to the Principal Deputy Spokesperson signals that the text reflects the Department’s official line while following standard communications protocol.