Reports of the US militarizing Darién Gap downplayed
International media reports that there is pressure on the US Pentagon to militarize the Darien Gap in order to contain migrant smuggling and organized crime have been dismissed by the White and Panama’s Minister of Security, Juan Pino, told La Estrella: “Nobody has talked about it and the idea does not proceed.”
The news comes alongside a report that the US Department of Defense has donated 63 ‘jeeps’ valued at $5 million to Panama.
The Darién Gap, through which hundreds of thousands of irregular migrants pass each year and organized crime groups operate, is once again a topic of conversation at the White House. Information published in international media speaks of pressure on the Pentagon to consider the idea of militarizing the area. This indicates that the immigration issue, in addition to being a security issue, is intertwined with the importance of the strategic and geopolitical point that Panama represents for the United States.
According to the Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional, “senior officials of the Biden government are pushing to send US troops to Darién to help local forces curb drug smuggling, human trafficking, and migration.” The information was provided to the newspaper by an unidentified senior Biden administration official and another defense official.
