Frank Ábrego Ministry of Security – Close the Darién

Frank Ábrego, 61 years old, will be the head of the Public Security portfolio of the government of José Raúl Mulino.  Ábrego was the first director of the National Border Service (Senafront), a position he held until 2016. Before assuming command of Senafront, he worked in the Metropolitan Directorate of the National Police, but before that he was in the Defense Forces. He entered there in 1986, a year after graduating from the General Francisco Morazán military school, in Honduras.  The Ministry of Public Security is currently headed by Juan Manuel Pino. For 2024, a budget of $946,109,041 was assigned to this portfolio. In addition to Senafront, this institution houses the National Police, the National Aeronaval Service, the National Immigration Service, and Sume 911, among other entities.  One of the biggest challenges that Ábrego will have in this portfolio will be to face the migration crisis in the Darién, especially with Mulino’s promise to “close” the border to prevent the passage of thousands of people who cross the jungle to reach Panama and then embark on the route to the United States. According to data from the National Immigration Service, as of Thursday, May 9, nearly 150,000 irregular migrants had entered the country through this route this year.  “We are going to close Darién and we are going to repatriate all these people accordingly, respecting human rights,” Mulino said in the midst of the political campaign for May 5.