On that route on the border with Colombia, only this March 29,294 travelers were counted, which exceeds the 24,657 travelers who crossed in February, according to the Minister of Security, Juan Manuel Pino.

After a tour through the town of Cañas Blancas, in the eastern territory, Pino said that the numbers are high, as they are five times more than those recorded in 2022, and there are places with daily income of almost a thousand people, he remarked.

Statistics show that if in the first three months of last year 13,791 people had crossed the jungle, this year almost 80,000 have already done so, which has set off alarms.

The Minister of security pointed out that entire families have passed through this inhospitable point of the isthmus seeking to reach the United States, with Venezuelan, Haitian and Ecuadorian nationalities being the most frequent.

He also mentioned the great environmental impact in the area, due to the passage of migrants, having witnessed a negative change since his last visit to the place three months ago, with shocking images of mountains of garbage in this natural area.

Last year more than 248,000 people passed through the Darien jungle, almost double the number identified in 2021. Panamanian authorities estimate that 400,000 migrants could cross their territory this year, breaking all records.

This situation underlines ‘the responsibility we have in security, we also have to see this issue with other optics and involve other authorities’, Pino added.

jrr/jav/mgt/ga.