Panama paid by U.S. to deport migrants entering country from Colombia; only Venezuelans allowed through
Newsweek - El Salvador edition
According to the government of Panama, a 38% reduction in migrants entering Panama from Colombia is expected for 2024 compared to 2023.
Notice that this news is only being published in Spanish—e.g. in Salvadoran and Mexican publications. Most likely this is to discourage people in Latin America from attempting to come to the U.S. without letting Americans know it’s happening before they vote on Nov. 5. Is this story being published in Asia, too? - Diana Barahona
Panamá Deports 130 Indian Migrants who Crossed Darién Rainforest
So far this year, 241,000 migrants have made the passage, two-thirds of them Venezuelan
By Jesús Ayala
Sept. 6, 2024 - Panama deported 130 migrants from India on Friday who entered the country through the inhospitable Darien jungle bordering Colombia, within the framework of an agreement with the United States.
“130 citizens were deported for irregular migration on our border with Colombia,” said Panama’s director of Migration, Roger Mojica, in a press conference after the plane took off, mid-morning.
This is the first flight with migrants deported from Panama outside of America and the fourth under the umbrella of North American cooperation. Previously, two planes were sent with deportees to Colombia and one to Ecuador.
“The United States is very grateful to the government of Panama for all this support,” declared the US Security Attaché for Central America, Marlen Piñeiro. “Irregular migration cannot continue to occur,” she added.
The Darien jungle has become a corridor for migrants from South America trying to reach the United States, where they face dangers such as fast-flowing rivers, wild animals and criminal gangs that rob, rape and kill.
In 2023, more than 520,000 people crossed the Darien, according to official Panamanian figures. So far this year, some 241,000 migrants have crossed the jungle, two-thirds of whom are Venezuelan.
However, Panama cannot deport Venezuelan migrants after the diplomatic rupture between the two countries following the questioned re-election of Nicolás Maduro on July 28. Since then, Panamanian planes have not been allowed to enter Venezuelan airspace.
"We are letting Venezuelans continue" on their journey to the United States, Mojica said.
In 2024, more than 3,800 Indians have passed through the Panamanian jungle, a figure that exceeds the 3,736 who did so in all of 2023.
The Indian migrants departed on a charter flight from a US company, bound for New Delhi, from the Panama Pacific airport, located on the opposite bank of the interoceanic canal from the capital.
Washington pledged to finance with six million dollars the deportation of migrants who cross the Panamanian jungle on their way to the United States. Under this agreement, Panama has deported 219 migrants in two weeks.
With this measure, President José Raúl Mulino seeks to curb migration through the Darién. According to the government, a 38% reduction in migrants entering Panama through the jungle is expected for 2024 compared to 2023.
Its a joke the operatives are here now its ugly and gonna be unrecognizable in cities and towns Springfield OH suburbia