 [ZERO] As migrants from Central America surge north in hopes of reaching the porous US border, businessmen and elected officials have turned the journey into a well-oiled, and profitable, machine - making "tens of millions" of dollars per year (or more, see below).
The Darién Gap, once a formidable natural barrier between North and South America, has essentially become a marketplace. Remote and beautiful, a constellation of small towns leading to the gap has been become a hub for mass migration, according to the NY Times.
The towns are riddled with poverty, and are housing a population that has long been victims of the country's internal conflicts. Their sewage, water, and electricity systems, already frail, were overwhelmed when thousands of Haitians began to show up in 2021, fleeing the chaos that spiraled after their President's assassination.
The Darién Gap has quickly morphed into one the Western Hemisphere’s most pressing political and humanitarian crises. A trickle only a few years ago has become a flood: More than 360,000 people have already crossed the jungle in 2023, according to the Panamanian government, surpassing last year’s almost unthinkable record of nearly 250,000.
In response, the United States, Colombia and Panama signed an agreement in April to "end the illicit movement of people" through the Darién Gap, a practice that "leads to death and exploitation of vulnerable people for significant profit."
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