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LAJAS BLANCAS, Panama (AP) — Panama’s newly elected President Jose Raul Mulino arrived in the jungle-clad Darien province Friday to face one of his biggest challenges: controlling the world’s busiest migration route from South America to the United States.
The 65-year-old lawyer, who will take charge of Panama on Monday, promised during his campaign to close the Darien Gap, calling the daily crossing “a journey that has no reason to exist.”
More than half a million people crossed the migration corridor on the Colombian border last year, and it is estimated that by now in 2024, around 186,000 people will have crossed the border, with the majority of migrants coming from Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia and China.
The migrant route across the narrow isthmus has grown rapidly in popularity in recent years, helped by criminal gangs and migrant smugglers who have made it an affordable, albeit dangerous, route for millions of people.
Derian’s popularity also grew when countries under pressure from the US government imposed visa restrictions on various nationalities, including Venezuelans and Peruvians, in order to prevent migrants from crossing the country to enter the US border.
Still, large numbers of people took up the challenge and began crossing the jungle-clad Colombian-Panama border on foot. What previously might have taken a week or more to cross could be accomplished in two or three days as the route became more established and enterprising locals set up a variety of aid services.
Mulino, who was accompanied by members of his future Cabinet, arrived at a temporary reception center that receives thousands of migrants each week, including pregnant women and children.
On the eve of the trip, migrants living at the Lajas Blancas camp after crossing the Darien River described their economic and security difficulties and many expressed support for Mulino’s plan to close the migration route.
“They (Mulino) have to close it,” said Venezuelan migrant Pedro Monte, who lost his wife on the way across the Darien Gap. “It’s the most dangerous thing (…) There are thieves, there are deaths, it’s a pity that people lose their lives there.”
Mulino has said he will deport migrants who continue to cross the Darien, but experts have warned that will be a difficult – and costly – task. He has also signaled he will seek a deal with the United States at a time when reports of abuse, human rights violations and deaths continue to mount along the route. US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is expected to attend Mulino’s inauguration on Monday.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean
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