PANAMAX 2009 naval maneuvers

US Coast Guard Lieutenant Cliff Harrison briefs military personnel from several nations during a maritime boarding training exercise at Vasco Nuñez de Balboa Naval Base, Panama. Harrison, also acting as a role player, works with the US Coast Guard International Training Division in Yorktown, Virginia, and is participating in FA PANAMAX 2009. FA PANAMAX 2009 is a multinational exercise, with 20 participating countries training for the defense of the Panama Canal. More than 4,500 personnel are participating from countries in the US Southern Command area of focus. US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class David P. Coleman

PANAMAX 2009 navy maneuvers involve countries one may not expect
by Eric Jackson

The United States just signed a military bases deal with Colombia that has been criticized by the great majority of Latin American governments. One of the reasons given for the new pact is that Ecuador decided not to renew the lease that had US forces operating out of Manta.

Yet in the US-led PANAMAX 2009 naval maneuvers, Ecuador is a participant. Theoretically about defending the Panama Canal, these war games play other roles that overshadow the stated purpose. It's about the navy and coast guard officers of the 20 participating countries getting to know one another, about showing off weapons and other equipment that might end up in sales, about forces of different countries being able to work together to chase down criminal elements who have no respect for international boundaries, about theoretical and practical discussions of new threats, and so on.

Ecuador is not the only country with a leftist government that has its differences with the United States participating in the maneuvers. Nicaragua and El Salvador are there. So is landlocked Paraguay, whose naval forces ply the South American rivers that form most of its boundaries. The new and growing regional powerhouse, Brazil, is there, and also left-leaning Argentina and Uruguay. The Canadians are there, as well as the Dutch, the latter still a colonial power in the Caribbean.

So is the canal safer because of these maneuvers? Maybe not. No country is going to attack the canal, which is neutral and available to all countries to use. And if some terrorist movement or criminal gang could conceivably attack, the defense against them would likely be more in the line of police work than military force.

Seaman Ronald Robinson paints a classroom in an elementary school in Colon, Panama, September 12, 2009. Robinson is stationed on the USS Doyle (FFG-39) and participating in a community service project during FA PANAMAX 2009. US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class David P. Coleman

The USS Mesa Verde. Photo by the US Navy

US Coast Guard Lieutenant Cliff Harrison briefs Ecuadorian Sailors during a maritime boarding training exercise at Vasco Nuñez de Balboa Naval Base, Panama. Harrison, also acting as a role player, works with the US Coast Guard International Training Division in Yorktown, Virginia, and is participating in FA PANAMAX 2009. US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class David P. Coleman

A multi-national naval force, including USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19), USS Doyle (FFG 39), USCGC Mohawk (WMEC 913), the Colombian frigate ARC Independiente, the Dutch auxiliary ship HMNLS Amsterdam, and the Uruguayan frigate General Artigas, cruise in formation as part of Fuerzas Aliadas PANAMAX 2009. US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Gary B. Granger Jr.

US Navy Captain Miguel A. Cubano, command surgeon for the US Southern Command, speaks during a pandemic influenza table-top exercise in Panama City, held in conjunction with Fuerzas Aliadas PANAMAX 2009. US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class David P. Coleman

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