Costa Rica President to Visit Panama Amid Migration Crisis


News from Panama / Saturday, September 30th, 2023

Costa Rica’s President Rodrigo Chaves will visit Panama’s Darien Gap in early October in an effort to contain a migrant crisis, both countries said on Saturday.

Panama’s Minister of Public Security Juan Pino and his Costa Rican counterpart, Mario Zamora, on Saturday visited communities in the dangerous stretch of jungle, where thousands of migrants pass each day on their way toward the United States.

Some 390,000 people have crossed to Panama from Colombia, traversing the Darien Gap, between January and September.

Most of them are Venezuelans, with others from Ecuador, Haiti and other countries, according to Panama’s Ministry of Security.