U.S. finds an ally in Panamá on immigration issues

The reviled US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas signed in Panamá an agreement to finance the costs of repatriation—of irregular migrants—incurred by the recently installed government of José Raúl Mulino, who seems determined to make his promise to "close the Darien" a reality along with other economic ones, marked by strong fiscal balance. "Panamá will no longer be a transit country for illegals," Mulino said yesterday in his inauguration speech, calling on security forces to uphold the law. "I understand that there are deep reasons for migration, but each country must solve its problems," he also said.

The transit of irregular migrants is indeed a dynamic that erodes the territorial integrity of countries such as Panamá, feeding the coffers of criminal networks that profit from the crisis and people's desperation, but the lack of multilateral initiatives to improve living conditions in the countries of origin continues to be chronic. In this sense, it is interesting that the United States is so willing to "support Panama with equipment, transportation and logistics" to partially solve its internal security problem, but is not willing to solidly support the realization of a comprehensive development plan for the region.

_{Mulino, center, watches Mayorkas sign the memorandum of understanding. To his left, his foreign minister Javier Martínez-Acha does the same for Panamá (source).}

As of last week, more than 197,000 irregular migrants had passed through the Darién Gap, 8 out of 10 of them from South America, mainly Venezuela. In June alone more than 27,000 individuals crossed the dangerous jungle, where they are exposed to unspeakable dangers on both the Colombian and Panamanian sides. Mulino's plan has weaknesses insofar as it needs cooperation from Colombia and the rest of the sending countries, which are also Asian and African. Petro, for example, is more focused on getting Washington to loosen the economic siege on Venezuela and not to criminalize migrants, although yesterday he was quite conciliatory with the new head of the Palace of the Herons.

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Hurrican Beryl

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