An eight-year-old Venezuelan girl died and 20 survivors were rescued by Panamanian authorities from a Feb. 21 shipwreck during a journey from Panama’s northern port of Llano Carti to the Colombian border. Trump’s crackdown on migrants has triggered a “reverse flow” that is leading a growing number of asylum seekers to take a sea route back to South America to avoid crossing the Darién Gap—the perilous jungle trek connecting Panama to Colombia. (TNH, CNN)
Panama’s cooperation with Trump’s crackdown is sparking outrage in the country. The government last month accepted almost 300 deportees from the US, who were initially held under armed guard in a Panama City hotel. Images of the group stuck inside the hotel, unable to leave, made local headlines. More than half finally agreed to be returned to their home countries; 97 who refused repatriation were sent to a camp the government has established in Darién province, near the entrance to the Gap. (PBS NewsHour, AP)
Photo: Note left on Darién Gap trail reads: “They’re robbing further up, form big groups!!” Credit: Peter Yeung/TNH
