Repatriation Flights for Migrants Entering Via the Darien Begin August 20

Panama and the United States will launch repatriation flights next Tuesday, August 20, for migrants who entered through the Darien jungle , as part of a cooperation agreement between the two countries.  This was announced by the President of the Republic of Panama, José Raúl Mulino, in an interview with the American network Univisión.  “On the 20th of August we should have the first flight. That will be very useful and the impact and the news that it will generate,” said Mulino. “I am deeply sorry, but I know why many of them are fleeing. The political crisis in Venezuela is strangling them and they are looking for another dream,” said Mulino in the interview that took place in the Dominican Republic.  The president was participating this Friday in the inauguration of the Dominican president, Luis Abinader.  Mulino said that these repatriation flights will not represent a cost for Panama and that the problem is with the United States, which has its border in Darien and not in Texas.  It should be remembered that Panama and the United States signed an agreement at the beginning of July of this year, in which the United States will finance the repatriation of migrants arriving from Colombia who do not have a legal basis to remain in Panama.  Since 2021, Panama has experienced an increase in irregular migrants crossing the Darien jungle, with 520,000 people doing so last year.  Most of these migrants are Venezuelans, whose goal is to reach the United States.  At the beginning of July, Panamanian authorities fenced off several crossing points used by migrants with wire, in order to better control these travelers in areas under security surveillance.