A jungle that many have feared for years but that has become a much more crowded path to seek ‘the American dream’, is to go from Colombia to Panama, a route for which many “are possessed by the devil”.
International News.
The Darien jungle, or known as ‘the Darien plug’, the border between Colombia and Panama, with still inhospitable areas, a place that for decades has been ‘consumed’ by migrants and people who enter on ‘adventure’, continues to leave painful stories because there has increased the passage of travelers who go without documents, money towards the border with the United States.
Migratory route of Venezuelans, Colombians, Guatemalans, Hondurans, even Asians, Africans and from other parts.
Looking for him…
In Cali, for example, relatives of Héctor Marino Ramírez, 46, are desperate. He went on a trip to North America, and they didn’t know anything about him, until they saw him on video.
“We don’t know if he is alive or dead, but we need you to help us locate him,” is his family’s request to the Colombian and Panamanian authorities.
Apparently he is missing in the Darién Jungle on the border with Panama.
As they told YourBoatthe last call received by their relatives was on Thursday at dawn from Necoclí, Antioquia.
They do not know if it is the same one, whom other migrants would have had to leave on the way.
“300, 500 migrants pass through here and very few help”, are some of the testimonies.
Perhaps it is not for less, they have walked for days, many eating only leaves, drinking water from puddles; They carry loads, or even with children in their arms. If someone slips and falls into the abyss, or the crocodile infested river, it is difficult for others to try to help them.
“Even mothers who have lost their children and even their babies when they slipped,” is the harsh reality in that jungle. And in the end, many survive and get out, but with them “that trauma remains.”
They see dead people on the road, people who are dying and cannot be helped. The one who says, “I can’t take it anymore,” and they don’t see him again.
The tik tok account that reveals this hard journey.
“A lot of madness,” is how some summarize, with a lump in their throat, when they manage to get out of the infernal Darien.
On the border with Panama‘the forest of the Dairén’
After crossing Colombia, those who come from Venezuela; and those who leave from different departments, in addition to foreigners who arrive in the country and must wait days for the guide (coyotes) to cross them, the longest and most dangerous crossing awaits them at the border with Panama.
“In the Darién jungle, the Panamanian authorities know what is happening, they are in charge of collecting the bodies that fall into the riverof the people who die in the jungle”, denounce groups of Cubans who have returned to see if there are other routes.
They run out of food, they get sick.
The 500,000-hectare Darién Gap is one of the most dangerous crossings in South America.
A trip that would take a maximum of 30 or 40 minutes by boat ends up being six or even more days.
“The authorities do not know with certainty how many migrants have died trying to reach Panama, just one step in the long journey (…) those who have crossed assure that The 500,000-hectare Darién Gap is one of the most dangerous crossings in South America. That this humid and closed jungle is a cemetery », reviews The Country of Spain.
The finding of many children has been reported; some lost their parents along the way, others are sent alone to join other groups along the way.
They have also detected that many are children from indigenous communities who live in the jungle, “and use them as freighters.”
#TRAGEDY IN THE #DARIEN | Venezuelan girl dies drowned in the Tacartí area.
officials of the @senafrontpanama they recovered the body of the 10-year-old girl and rescued her mother and aunt.
So far in 2022, at least 14 Venezuelans have died crossing the jungle. pic.twitter.com/YyAZofpoqs
– On the Border (@EnFrontera_) September 20, 2022
the jungle frontier
This section cuts the Pan-American highway that goes from Alaska to Argentina and Chile. It is jungle, and sea.
It is a natural border between the two countries that were once one, Panama and Colombia. In New Granada, the Territory of Darién, which existed between 1846 and 1850, and since that time, stories date back that many perished exploring it.
Today, most of the Darién Jungle is in Panama, being the Province of Darién.
While on the Colombian side, it occupies a large part of the north of the Department of Chocó. There in 2021 and at the beginning of 2022 the Necoclí crisis was experienced.
Thousands of migrants, a large part of them Haitians, came to that point to rush to the border.
Although on Panamanian soil, this jungle is protected by the Darién National Park, one of the largest in Central America and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in addition to being part of the Biosphere Reserves program, there is no one to prevent the dangerous crossing of hundreds of people every day.
There are even fears of problems with indigenous communities, many located on virgin land.
Encounters between migrants and indigenous people have been reported, in which there have been problems.
Darien Jungle | The risk of emigrating with children through the Darién. Crossing through rivers, floods and currents are circumstances that can be fatal. #JungleDarien #Venezuela #Colombia #Panama #Costa Rica #Mexico #Honduras #Nicaragua #Haiti #Cuba #Guatemala pic.twitter.com/b8NBwhw6i5
– Darien Jungle (@selvadrien) July 25, 2022
Meanwhile, in Colombia, authorities are trying to control this passage of migrants to avoid a more serious humanitarian crisis.
Because despite that nightmare and the tragedy, many continue to venture “to hell to look for a dream”, the Darién jungle.
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