International

Flood of forlorn Venezuelans brave jungle crossing in Panama

Photo: Luis Acosta / AFP

| 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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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“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.

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

Spain rebukes U.S. over euthanasia case as minister defends legal framework

Spain’s Minister of Health, Mónica García, on Wednesday responded to the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump after reports that Washington requested an investigation into the euthanasia case of Spanish citizen Noelia Castillo.

The minister questioned the U.S. government’s stance and urged it not to interfere in matters governed by Spain’s legal and healthcare framework. “Stop fueling an international ultra agenda by meddling everywhere,” García wrote in a message on the social platform X.

In her remarks, García also criticized the U.S. healthcare system, noting that thousands of people die each year without access to medical coverage. She further accused the Trump administration of supporting actions that undermine human rights in international contexts.

García defended the legality of euthanasia in Spain, emphasizing that the procedure is strictly regulated and subject to medical and judicial oversight. “Spain is a serious country, with a strong healthcare system and a legal framework that protects individuals, including those who choose to seek assistance in dying under regulated conditions reviewed by clinical committees and upheld by the courts,” she said.

The case of Noelia Castillo, a 25-year-old woman living with paraplegia, drew widespread attention following a legal dispute with her father, who opposed her decision to undergo euthanasia. The procedure was ultimately carried out in accordance with Spanish law.

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International

New York City lifts TikTok ban on government devices under new security rules

New York City has lifted its ban on TikTok on government-owned devices, allowing city agencies to resume posting on the platform under newly established security protocols, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Tuesday.

The initial ban, implemented in 2023 by former mayor Eric Adams, aligned with federal and state-level restrictions across the United States, which limited the use of TikTok on official devices over concerns related to its parent company, ByteDance. The company has previously denied these concerns, calling them unfounded.

Under the updated guidelines issued by the city’s Cyber Command, devices designated for TikTok use by government agencies must not store or access sensitive information. Officials indicated that the policy shift is intended to enhance communication with residents.

“The Mamdani Administration is committed to using every tool in our toolbox to communicate with New Yorkers,” the mayor’s office said in a statement.

Following the announcement, the mayor’s official TikTok account resumed activity after remaining inactive since the ban was first enforced.

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International

Rubio signals possible engagement with Iranian factions amid internal divisions

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that Washington is hopeful of engaging with factions within the government of Iran, noting that the United States has received positive private signals.

Speaking to ABC News’ Good Morning America, Rubio suggested that internal divisions exist within the Islamic Republic and expressed confidence that figures with the authority to act could emerge.

“We are hopeful that this will be the case,” Rubio said. “Clearly, there are people there who are communicating with us in ways that those previously in power in Iran did not. This is reflected in some of the steps they appear willing to take.”

Despite this, Rubio maintained a firm stance toward Iran, reiterating that the ongoing conflict seeks to eliminate its capacity to develop nuclear weapons—an objective that President Donald Trump has previously claimed was achieved during a military strike last year.