BAJO CHIQUITO, Panama (AP) — Rain-swollen rivers only briefly slowed the otherwise uninterrupted flow of migrants through this jungle-covered border area separating Colombia and Panama and by midweek another 2,000 bedraggled migrants stumbled out of the Darien jungle.
That efficiency combined with the unrelenting economic factors pushing migrants to leave countries like Venezuela, whose citizens account for the majority of them, have resulted in more than 400,000 migrants crossing the Darien this year.
They made the crossing from Colombia in 2 ½ days, but Morales described it as “horrible.”“I don’t wish it for anyone.
Morales said she saw three dead migrants along the way, including a woman who had apparently drowned in a river.
In April, the U.S., Panama and Colombia announced a campaign to slow migration through the Darien jungle, but migrants’ numbers have only grown forcing the Biden administration to seek other options.
Persons:
Alejandro Mayorkas, Kimberly Morales, Morales, ”, ” Morales, Biden, Gabriela Quijada, dizzily, “, Carliomar, …, ” Peña, Peña
Organizations:
U.S, . Homeland, Chiquito, Panama “, Colombian, U.S . Homeland Security Department, Bajo Chiquito Wednesday
Locations:
CHIQUITO, Panama, Colombia, Darien, Bajo Chiquito, Venezuela, Mexico, States, Costa Rica, Caracas, Panamanian, U.S, Latin America, United States, Bajo, Margarita, Merida