Immediately upon taking office, Panama's new President José Raúl Mulino struck a deal [8] with the United States to shut down the migration route through the Darién Gap [9], which sees thousands annually making the perilous jungle trek while seeking to reach North America. The US has committed to cover the cost of repatriation [10] of migrants who illegally enter Panama and to deploy Homeland Security teams on the route. Last year, a record 520,000 migrants [11] risked their lives, often at the hands of human traffickers, to traverse the Darién Gap, an expanse of roadless jungle stretching some 100 kilometers from Panama's border with Colombia. (TNH [13], The Guardian [8])
Mulino previously served as security minister, in which capacity he oversaw repression of labor [14] and indigenous [15] protests, and eviction of indigenous communities [16] from contested lands. Earlier, as justice minister, he helped integrate Panama into the US-led Merida Initiative [17].
