US Troops Training in Panama
For the first time in 50 years, a US aircraft carrier has docked at a Panama Canal port. While the presence of US military warships around the Panama canal is nothing new—about 75% of cargo that passes through the canal is linked to imports and exports connected to the US, and it is considered one of the most important transit points within the Western Hemisphere—this has garnered attention due to a new US Naval operation titled Southern Seas 2026.
The US Navy has revealed that operation Southern Seas 2026 “will feature subject matter expert exchanges and provide the opportunity for distinguished visitors from partner nations to see aircraft carrier operations up close. Engagements are planned with Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Urugay, with port visits planned for Brazil, Chile, Panama and Jamaica.”
Another noticeable change in the region has been that, for the first time in 25 years, US military personnel are being deployed to Panama for training purposes. Since late 2025, troops have been training with Panamanian security forces “in survival and combat tactics in dense, tropical environments.” It’s been emphasized that this program isn’t intended for any future potential military missions in the area, including Venezuela, but the US government has historically been opaque and misleading in regards to foreign intervention.
During Trump’s second term, we have witnessed the revival of the Monroe Doctrine—some dubbing it the “Donroe Doctrine”. The US openly considers Latin America its “backyard” and justifies its imperialist interventions as a cause for the “protection” of the US, citing curbing drug trafficking and anti-authoritarianism as motives.
Some recent, more transparent examples of Monroe Doctrine-motivated actions are:
The continuous bombings of fishing boats off the coast of Caribbean nations—like Venezuela and Colombia—falsely claiming the boats were manned by “narco-terrorists”, resulting in the murder of over 125 people, and the illegal kidnapping of Venezuela’s President, Nicolas Maduro, and First Lady Cilia Flores, who remain in a New York City federal prison.
Sources:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2026-05-05/why-us-troops-are-training-in-panama-video
https://abcnews.com/Politics/pentagon-sends-us-ground-forces-train-panamas-jungle/story?id=127314276
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/us-troops-panama-training-jungle
Israel Lets Five Rapists Off the Hook, Encouraging the Systematic Rape of Palestinians
Typically, Last Week in US Imperialism reports of the crimes of empire which have occurred within the week prior to publishing, hence the name. The following is a particularly heinous case, dating from March 2026, which we missed – so we’re reporting on it now.
On March 12, 2026, Israel let five rapists off the hook. The perpetrators were IDF soldiers who had brutally beaten and then sexually assaulted a Palestinian detainee, who was imprisoned within Sde Teiman military prison. They dragged their victim across the ground, and, concealing themselves behind a wall of riot shields, beat him, tasered him, and then brutally forced an object into his rectum. The result was broken ribs, a punctured lung, and torn rectum. The man had to be hospitalized and required surgery before being sent right back to prison.
The IDF claimed that the soldiers could not be prosecuted because of a lack of evidence – they pointed to the fact that the actual crime was not visible in leaked footage of the assault, but this is because the IDF perpetrators were cognizant enough to use the aforementioned wall of riot shields to conceal themselves and their victim from the base’s cameras. Moreover, the IDF’s claim totally ignores the fact that the victim was, judging from his severe injuries, clearly brutally assaulted while in Israeli detention.
Sde Teiman was established at the onset of the genocide in Gaza and quickly gained a reputation for the systematic torture of Palestinian detainees. A United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) report exposed the systematic torture and systematic abuse of Palestinians in Israeli detention, particularly at the Sde Teiman. Detained women are often brutally raped, and it is very common for detained men to have foreign objects forced into their rectum, sometimes including electric probes. There is at least one incident of a detained Palestinian being raped by a dog.
The ruling which let these torturers off the hook came in the same month in which the Israeli Knesset (the Israeli parliament) passed a law that made the death penalty mandatory for any Palestinian found guilty of attacking Israelis or the Israeli state. It should also be mentioned that the law was explicitly inspired by the use of the death penalty in the United States.
Not just the murder of Palestinians, and Arabs more broadly, but their systematic dehumanization is a direct consequence of the Zionist project. The United States and Israel seek to reduce Arabs to subhuman status before they conquer and exterminate. Sexual assault and other forms of torture deployed against detainees in Israeli prisons serve that purpose, and until the United States and Israel are stopped, the brutalization of Palestinians will continue unabated.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/12/world/middleeast/israel-detainee-abuse-charges.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/17/world/middleeast/un-report-israel-detainees-abuse.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/11/opinion/israel-palestinians-sexual-violence.html
Russia Recruits Africans into the Ukraine War Meat Grinder
A growing number of African men are being recruited into Russia’s war in Ukraine through deceptive job offers promising work in security, construction, or logistics. Many are recruited through WhatsApp and Telegram channels targeting young men facing unemployment and economic crisis across the continent. Some reportedly arrive in Russia believing they are taking civilian jobs, only to be sent to the front lines after signing military contracts in Russian they cannot read.
Ukrainian officials said in February that more than 1,700 African nationals from at least 36 countries were fighting in the Russian army. Kenyan officials later estimated that around 1,000 Kenyans alone had been recruited, with families reporting relatives disappearing after traveling to Russia for promised work opportunities. Reports from the front have shown African recruits being used in some of the deadliest fighting of the war.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/04/world/africa/ukraine-russia-war-african-soldiers.html
Behind Enemy Lines 