International
Flood of forlorn Venezuelans brave jungle crossing in Panama
| By AFP | Juan José Rodriguez and Luis Acosta |
Wading through knee-deep mud, some limping, hundreds of Venezuelan migrants battle against fatigue with their eye on the prize: hope for a new life in the United States.
With sore feet, injuries and dented spirits several days into their ordeal — still far from halfway — they trudge in single file through the infamous Darien Jungle linking Colombia to Panama.
With a long way still ahead through Central America and Mexico, the group of men, women and children, some babies, already has many horrors to recount.
And it may all have been in vain.
Last week, the United States announced that Venezuelans arriving by land without travel documents will be returned to Mexico.
For Jesus Arias, 45, sometimes one has to “risk one’s life to have a future.”
“But honestly, I would not advise anyone to come through the jungle. It is very hard,” he told AFP as he and others arrived at an Indigenous settlement in Panama, Canaan Membrillo — one of several border control points in the 575,000-hectare (1,420,900-acre) jungle.
Arias arrived at Canaan Membrillo in a T-shirt and shorts, carried by other men in the group after injuring his knee.
‘We’re going anyway’
He undertook the journey knowing it would be tough because “there is no future in Venezuela. Every day it gets worse.”
He may have no choice but to go back to the crisis-hit country, which is wracked by violence, insecurity and a lack of essential services. The UN Refugee Agency says 6.8 million refugees and migrants have left Venezuela since 2014.
Under the US decree, only 24,000 Venezuelans who apply under a humanitarian program will be granted entry.
“We’re going anyway,” said Arias. “Even if we are stopped, at some point we will enter.”
The number of Venezuelans making the Darien crossing reached a record high in 2022 — some 133,000 between January and mid-October, according to authorities in Panama.
For the whole of last year, the figure was 2,800.
Venezuelan Nelida Pantoja, 46, saw “many dead, many mountains, many rivers that carried off many people… It was horrible,” she told AFP at Canaan Membrillo.
But like most of her fellow migrants, she vowed to “keep trying” until she gets into the United States.
Darwin Vidal, 33, said he was struggling to garner the strength for what lay ahead: battling not only rough terrain but also being at the mercy of poisonous snakes and other wild animals, as well as criminal groups.
“I got lost for three days in the jungle with my family. With my children, we were going too slowly. We couldn’t keep up with the group, we fell behind, and got lost” for a scary while, he said.
Rusbelis Serrano, 18, said she thought the worst was over.
“My mom, my dad, my brothers are waiting for me” in the United States, Serrano told AFP.
“I don’t have much left. I have to keep trying.”
The authorities in Panama say at least 100 people have died crossing the Darien since 2018, about half of them in 2021 — the deadliest year so far.
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TOPSHOT - Venezuelan migrants arrive at Canaan Membrillo village, the first border control of the Darien Province in Panama, on October 13, 2022. - The clandestine journey through the Darien Gap usually lasts five or six days at the mercy of all kinds of bad weather: snakes, swamps and drug traffickers who use these routes to take cocaine to Central America. (Photo by Luis ACOSTA / AFP) / TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY JUAN JOSE RODRIGUEZ
International
Senate Bipartisan Vote Moves Measure to Block Further U.S. Military Action in Venezuela
The U.S. Senate took a significant step on Thursday toward limiting President Donald Trump’s military authority in Venezuela, advancing a bipartisan war powers resolution that would block further military actions without explicit congressional approval, lawmakers said.
In a 52-47 procedural vote, the measure moved forward after five Republican senators joined all Democrats in supporting the effort. The resolution aims to require presidential authorization from Congress before the United States can engage in any new hostilities against Venezuela, a rare rebuke of Trump from both sides of the aisle following the controversial military operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
If ultimately passed, the legislation would obligate the administration to withdraw U.S. forces from any imminent hostilities in or against Venezuela unless Congress explicitly authorizes such actions. However, the measure’s future remains uncertain as it heads next to the House of Representatives, where a Republican majority is less likely to approve it, and any final version would likely face a presidential veto. Overriding a veto would require a two-thirds majority in both chambers, a high threshold in the current political landscape.
President Trump has sharply criticized Republican senators who broke ranks to support the resolution, saying they should not be re-elected and arguing that the measure undermines his authority to act in national defense. Nevertheless, the vote signals growing bipartisan concern in Congress about unchecked executive military action in the absence of legislative authorization.
International
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Colombian President Gustavo Petro and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump agreed on “joint actions” to combat the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group operating along the Colombia–Venezuela border, Colombia’s Interior Minister Armando Benedetti said on Thursday.
The announcement came after a period of heightened diplomatic tension triggered by recent U.S. airstrikes in Venezuela, the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and threats of possible U.S. military action in Colombia. The phone call Wednesday evening was the first direct conversation between Petro and Trump since both leaders took office, and it helped ease the strained relationship.
During the call, both presidents committed to carry out joint efforts against the ELN, a guerrilla group that has repeatedly attacked Colombian security forces and is accused of kidnapping soldiers. In December, the ELN declared a “armed strike,” confining civilians in areas under its control in response to perceived threats of U.S. intervention.
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The border region is a longstanding flashpoint, where armed groups, drug traffickers and illegal mining networks compete for control. Previous attempts by Petro’s government to negotiate peace with the ELN have stalled after a major offensive in Catatumbo that left hundreds dead and displaced thousands.
International
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Despite the veto, the conservative-majority Congress retains the power to override the decision through a vote.
In September, following a landmark trial, Brazil’s Supreme Court sentenced Bolsonaro to 27 years in prison after finding him guilty of conspiring to remain in power in an “authoritarian” manner following his defeat to Lula in the 2022 presidential election.
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Under the current legal framework, Bolsonaro would be required to serve approximately eight years before becoming eligible for sentence leniency. However, a bill passed by Congress in December could have reduced that period to just over two years, prompting Lula’s veto.
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