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Panama deports 29 colombian criminals under new U.S. migration agreement

Panama deported 29 Colombians with criminal backgrounds on Tuesday who had entered the country through the remote Darién jungle, marking the first implementation of a migration agreement signed with the United States in July.

“We have the first flight of the agreement funded by the United States,” said Panama’s Deputy Minister of Security, Luis Felipe Icaza, to the press. He was accompanied by U.S. officials as the charter flight took off at dawn from Albrook Airport in Panama City, carrying the 29 deportees to Bogotá.

Before boarding the Fokker 50 aircraft, the group was assembled at the side of the runway and each individual was checked with metal detectors. The deportees, who were not carrying any luggage, were handcuffed and shackled, making their way slowly up the stairs to the plane.

Icaza mentioned that “the next flight could depart on Friday or Saturday” under the memorandum Panama signed with the United States on July 1, the same day José Raúl Mulino took office as the new President of Panama.

Under this agreement, Washington pledged to fund the deportation of migrants crossing the Darién, the inhospitable jungle on the Colombia-Panama border, with six million dollars.

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“The memorandum applies to anyone, not just criminals,” said Marlene Piñeiro, the U.S. Interior Security Attaché in Central America, who observed the deportation process along with other U.S. and Panamanian officials.

“In addition to charter flights, we are also supporting commercial flights” for the return of migrants to their home countries, she added.

Central America

Mulino warns Trump: Darién is U.S.’s ‘other border’ in call for bilateral solutions to migration

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino reiterated on Thursday that the Darién region is “the other border” of the United States and that President-elect Donald Trump must understand this, given his announcement to toughen U.S. immigration policy.

“And I repeat what I have said: he (Trump) must know that his other border, the U.S. border, is in Darién, and we need to begin solving this issue bilaterally or together with a group of countries that contribute people to the migratory flow,” Mulino stated during his weekly press conference.

The Panamanian leader added that the United States “needs to be more aware that this (the flow of irregular migrants through Darién) is their problem. These people are not coming to stay in Panama… they want to go to the United States for whatever reasons they may have.”

In 2023, more than 520,000 irregular migrants crossed the Darién jungle into Panama, a historic figure. This year, the flow has decreased, with more than 281,000 travelers making the journey by October 31, mostly Venezuelans (over 196,000), according to Panama’s National Migration Service.

“Panama is doing what it can,” Mulino said, emphasizing the country’s significant financial investment in security, medical care, and food for migrants. However, he noted, “As long as the crisis in Venezuela persists, all signs point to this continuing, with the human drama that it involves.”

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He emphasized that Venezuelans make up the majority of those crossing the jungle, with 69% according to Panamanian statistics, followed by Colombians (6%), Ecuadorians (5%), Chinese (4%), and Haitians (4%). The rest come from over fifty countries worldwide.

On July 1, when Mulino began his five-year term, Panama and the United States signed an agreement under which the U.S. government covers the costs of repatriating migrants who entered through Darién. Under this program, which is funded with $6 million, more than 1,000 people have already been deported, mostly Colombians.

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Central America

Ten dead in Panama due to storms causing over $100 million in damages

Ten people have died in Panama due to storms that have caused over $100 million in damages from flooding and infrastructure collapse in the last ten days, President José Raúl Mulino reported on Thursday.

The most affected areas are the western provinces of Chiriquí, which borders Costa Rica, Veraguas, and the indigenous Ngäbe Buglé comarca, due to heavy rains that have been falling for more than ten days.

During his weekly press conference, Mulino initially stated that the storm had caused five deaths, but this was immediately corrected by the director of the National Civil Protection Service (Sinaproc), Omar Smith, who confirmed that the number of deaths had risen to ten.

“What worries me are the human lives, I think we had five (deaths), how many? Ten already? Imagine that,” Mulino said.

Last year, Panama experienced a drought that led to reduced traffic through the interoceanic canal, which operates on fresh water, but the situation began to normalize this year with the onset of the rainy season, which has been abundant since May.

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The president announced that the government will declare a state of emergency for the affected areas, where rivers have overflowed, homes have been damaged, landslides have occurred, roads have collapsed, and crops have been lost.

“Based on the reports I’ve received, the damage is significant,” Mulino noted.

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Central America

Bukele urges Costa Rica to reform prison system amid rising crime rates

El Salvador’s President, Nayib Bukele, recommended that Costa Rica toughen its prison system, describing it as too “permissive” after visiting a Costa Rican prison with his counterpart, Rodrigo Chaves, on Tuesday at the end of an official visit.

“We believe the prison system should be less permissive, focusing more on the rights of those outside and a country’s right to security,” Bukele said after touring the La Reforma prison, located 23 km east of San José.

During Bukele’s visit to Costa Rica, the two presidents discussed different security approaches and strategies to combat organized crime. They also signed memorandums of understanding on tourism, trade, and bilateral relations.

Bukele noted the contrasts between Costa Rica’s prison system and that of El Salvador, which he reformed as part of his “war” against gangs launched in March 2022 under a state of emergency allowing arrests without warrants.

The Salvadoran president pointed out Costa Rica’s high cost per inmate, which he estimated at around $1,200 per month.

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“They are spending nearly two minimum wages per inmate. It’s an injustice,” Bukele stated, adding that Costa Rica’s penal system “needs reform.”

Regarding inmate rights, Bukele suggested limiting intimate visits and TV access to prevent prisons from becoming “headquarters for crime.”

“We hope you take the necessary measures,” Bukele said about the increase in crime in Costa Rica, which has seen 757 homicides in 2024, mostly related to drug trafficking.

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