600 US soldiers for Colombia? The New York Times reports it, and the US Embassy in Panama calls it false

What happened

On Wednesday night, October 14, The New York Times reported, citing unnamed US military officials, that about 600 soldiers of the US Army's 10th Mountain Division, based at Fort Drum, New York, are being sent to Panama, Colombia and Honduras. The first went to a new jungle training center in Panama. According to the Times, part of the force will come to Colombia for an exercise called Southern Vanguard, starting at the end of October, and part will train with units in Honduras. The roles under study include supporting US Special Operations teams that advise local forces in raids on drug traffickers, guarding US helicopters, and stepping in if those teams get into trouble. The deployment would be temporary and rotating, but the sources said it could become a lasting part of the US presence in the region. The Times says Colombia and Honduras are among the few governments in the region that have accepted joint operations on their soil. The Pentagon didn't confirm the details. It said it works with partners to "deepen collaboration and keep constant pressure on hemispheric threat networks." Hours later, the US Embassy in Panama called the report "categorically false." It said 120 soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division are taking a 2-week jungle course in Panama that ends October 25, after which they go back to their units, and it placed Southern Vanguard in Peru, not Colombia. As of Thursday morning, neither the Colombian government nor the president had commented.

What it meansThe Constitution says the Senate has to permit foreign troops to pass through Colombia, and this fight has already started. In September, after US Marine helicopters flew over Tumaco, a judge ordered the Defense Ministry to explain its legal basis, on a suit by a congressman from Petro's party, and Senator Iván Cepeda filed a similar suit against the president. In 2020, a court suspended a US Army advisory brigade's work here until the Senate weighed in.

What it means for usNothing changes in daily life. The two things to watch are whether US soldiers arrive at the end of October, and whether the government asks the Senate first.

On social media

As of 10 AM, the president hadn't posted about it. His only post on Thursday morning was about the prison worker killed in Girón.