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Panama’s new president has pledged to halt illegal immigration through the notorious Darién Gap and work with the US government as it seeks to limit arrivals at its southern border ahead of its presidential election.
José Raúl Mulino, the right-wing leader who won the May vote, said in his inauguration speech on Monday that the country could no longer pay the economic and social costs associated with migration.
“Panama will no longer be a transit country for illegals,” he said, adding that migrants were being organised by “international groups related to drug trafficking and people smuggling”.
Last year more than half a million people crossed the Darién Gap, which stretches into Colombia, with economic and political crises in Latin America pushing people out of their home countries such as Venezuela. After leaving the jungle most migrants cross Panama’s isthmus on buses on their journey towards the US.
In the past five years, the dangerous Darién route went from one attempted only by a smaller subset of migrants to a global migration highway run by increasingly professional smugglers. Tens of thousands of children cross its swamps and rivers, sometimes alone, with migrants reporting rape, murder and accidents on the route.
US President Joe Biden’s administration has been pressuring governments across the region to crack down on illegal movement as he seeks re-election in November, and Republicans have criticised him for failing to address a surge in entries. Mexico has been rounding up migrants and busing them to the south of the country, helping keep numbers of illegal crossings down, at least temporarily.
It was still unclear exactly how and whether Panama would be able to close the Darién, with more than 1,000 people arriving every day.
On Friday, Mulino visited a migrant camp at the edge of the jungle. His security minister has said the government was considering erecting new checkpoints where illegal migrants would be detained, and that paths through the jungle would be closed.
The US said Monday it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Panama “designed to jointly reduce the number of migrants being cruelly smuggled through the Darien”, under which it will “support Panama’s efforts to begin the swift, safe, and humane repatriation of migrants who do not have a legal basis to remain in Panama.”
Biden said in a statement on Monday that he looked forward “to continuing our strong bilateral partnership as we work together to promote good governance, advance inclusive economic growth, and address irregular migration”.
Increased migration enforcement on the Panamanian side could create a big problem for Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who has left the route largely unpoliced. Mulino met Petro before his speech on Monday, and the two leaders agreed to meet the US to discuss the issue.
Mulino won Panama’s presidency after popular former president Ricardo Martinelli was barred from the ballot over a money laundering conviction. He takes on a daunting series of urgent challenges, including a sharp slowdown in growth, weak public finances and a need for a new water source for the country’s canal.
In his speech on Monday, Mulino said he would order an environmental study of a large mine the country abruptly shut down after last year and embark on social security reform to avoid the system’s collapse, which is forecast in less than a year.
“We will do it by consensus or by a strong decision by this president, but we will do it,” he said.
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