Published in the Official Gazette, President Javier Milei authorized the departure from national territory of 56 military personnel to participate in the multinational exercise "PANAMAX 2026" , an operation under the operational command of the United States Southern Command.

The measure replicates the same exception mechanism used in the "ATLANTIC DAGGER" and PASSEX exercises in the South Atlantic —which prompted the recent criminal complaint for abuse of authority and alleged Treason against the Nation filed in Federal Court No.  10. Once again, the Casa Rosada justified the use of the Emergency Decree by alleging "urgency" due to the lack of legislative action on the exercise project. However, the Ministry of Defense's own documentation contradicts this version: the formal invitation from the U.S. Embassy was received on August 15, 2025 , almost a year before the deployment, demonstrating that there was sufficient time to request constitutional authorization from Congress (Art. 75, inc. 28).

From elite forces to foreign training

The deployment, which costs $51 million pesos taken from the Defense budget, will send 37 members of the Joint Special Operations Command (belonging to the Army, Navy and Air Force) to Panama, along with 19 specialists in planning and cyber defense.

The exercise—which will take place between July 27 and August 15, 2026—simulates the neutralization of a "hostile force" threatening the security of the Panama Canal. Under the official premise of "improving interoperability" and "standardizing procedures," elite Argentine personnel will operate under the U.S. military chain of command, adopting its doctrines, tactics, and communication systems.

Dollars for the Pentagon, Uber for Argentine troops

This new deployment abroad exposes the perverse asymmetry of the national government's defense policy:

The systematic surrender of sovereignty

Participation in "PANAMAX 2026" is not an isolated event. It complements the delivery of maritime intelligence within the 200-mile zone through Program 333 , the acceptance of the "Protecting Global Commons " concept to define the South Atlantic, and Minister Federico Sturzenegger's reform projects aimed at dissolving the Navy's Fleet and merging it with the Coast Guard.

While aligning Argentine military personnel with the United States' conflict scenarios in Central America, the South Atlantic and Antarctic projection are left without an autonomous defense system, consolidating a scheme where Argentina relinquishes its sovereignty and acts as an auxiliary to Washington's geostrategic interests.