The multinational military exercise PANAMAX 2009 centered on the Panama Canal defense began Friday with the participation of troops from 20 countries.

The 11-day exercise this year will simulate a terrorist threat in the Panama Canal, said Gerald W. Ketchum, U.S. Operation, Preparation and Mobilization sub-director from the Southern Command.

The principal aim of PANAMAX is to work together for the Canal's needs because there are threats in the region need collective efforts, he said

The exercise, sponsored by the U.S. Southern Command since 2003, is held every year.

Panamanian Task Forces chief, sub-commissioner from the Aero-naval National Service (SNA), Osvaldo Urena said at a press conference that this year they will use a mini submarine to simulate the interception of a load with explosives or drugs.

The multinational military exercise will take place from the entrance points of the Panama Canal in the Atlantic and the Pacific, Urena said.

Military and security forces from Argentina, Brazil, Belize, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the United States and Uruguay will participate in the exercise. Mexico and France are observers.

(Xinhua News Agency September 12, 2009)