Panama has begun US-funded repatriation of migrants

Three months before the elections for the White House, the first plane to deport migrants from South America flies, the result of an agreement between Washington and the government of Panama

Twenty-nine people of Colombian nationality left at dawn on Tuesday 20 August on a flight that took off from Panama City airport and headed towards the South American country.It is the first repatriation flight of irregular migrants organized by the Panamanian government and funded by the White House, to stem the migratory phenomenon seen by the United States as the main destination.An agreement that became operational under the Biden administration and that Vice President Kamala Harris, just appointed as the official candidate for the White House during the Democratic Party convention in Chicago, never questioned.

The first repatriation of migrants who escaped the Darien Gap

The first deportation flight operated by the AirPanama company left the country's capital early in the morning, starting passenger boarding operations in the dark.On board twenty-nine Colombians, all with criminal records for crimes committed in their country of origin.Each of the deportees was led onto the plane handcuffed and with chains on their feet.

The Panamanian authorities had arrested them immediately after crossing the Darien Gap, a rugged and very dangerous jungle that connects Colombia to Panama.For years this natural area of ​​almost 6,000 square kilometers has represented a crucial hub for people trying to reach the United States, despite the numerous pitfalls that have now become known.In addition to being almost impenetrable due to the dense vegetation, the jungle is in fact an inhospitable and unsafe place, populated by poisonous animals.But to the risks dictated by nature, there is added the presence of armed gangs dedicated to drug trafficking and human trafficking, which constitute the most serious and recurring danger for migrants who reach this passage towards the north.

Despite the risks, the Darien Gap is still traveled regularly.According to data released a few months ago by the government of Panama, approx 520 thousand people – the vast majority Venezuelans – crossed it in 2023, a figure that is almost double the 248 thousand recorded in 2022. According to Unicef, the United Nations agency that deals with children, one in five is a child and one in ten is under five years old.

The agreement between Washington and Panama enters the middle of the electoral campaign

Marlen Piñeiro, a US Department of Homeland Security official, said that the goal of the deportation flights get the message across that the Darien is no longer a route, and that entry into the United States must occur only through legal channels.It follows that flights like the one from Panama City will increase in frequency.This is established by the agreement stipulated at the beginning of July between Biden and Mulino, who in turn conducted his electoral campaign promising that Panama would stop being a transit country.

Second Reuters, the terms of the agreement provide for a $6 million budget for flights and training for Panamanian officers.In addition to the United States, the government of the Central American state is also trying to establish agreements with Colombia, including Ecuador and India.The case of Venezuela is different due to the suspension of diplomatic relations following Maduro's disputed re-election last month.

The timing of the first repatriation flight is no coincidence.It arrives less than two months after the inauguration of the new president of Panama, José Raúl Mulino, and above all when the US Democratic Party convention which, after Biden's step back in favor of Kamala Harris he is trying to regain the ground that separates him from Donald Trump in the polls.Leaving aside the economic issues and the tug-of-war over rights - especially abortion - the migration table is without a doubt one of those on whichi will play a large part of the race for the White House from a domestic point of view.In this regard, Biden and Harris have always been under crossfire, between those from the right who accused them of the lack of action to contain migratory pressure and those, like the Democratic Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, accuses the Biden administration of maintaining a hard and intransigent line for fear of giving too much ground to the Trumpian narrative of the invasion from the south.