Last year, almost 250,000 people fueled by economic and humanitarian disasters, crossed the Darién Gap, a stretch of jungle straddling the Colombia-Panama border, many on their way to the US. This is nearly double the figures from the year before, and 20 times the annual average from 2010 to 2020. Early data for 2023 shows six times as many made the trek from January to March, 87,390 compared to 13,791 last year, a record, according to Panamanian authorities.
The treacherous Darien Gap, a dense jungle region of Panama and Colombia, is one of the few gaps in the Pan-American Highway, which links the Americas from Alaska to Argentina. Despite being a vital piece of infrastructure, the Darien Gap is notoriously difficult to navigate and has long served as a major obstacle for migrants attempting to reach North America from South America.
A team of CNN journalists including Chief International Security Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh, Field Producer Natalie Gallón and Cameraman Brice Lainé, made the nearly 70-mile (over 110 Kilometres) journey by foot in February, interviewing migrants, guides, locals, and officials about why so many are taking the risk, braving unforgiving terrain, extortion, and violence.
The route took five days, starting outside a Colombian seaside town, traversing through farming communities, ascending a steep mountain, and cutting across muddy, dense rainforest and rivers before reaching a government-run camp in Panama.
The CNN report sheds light on the complex network of smugglers and traffickers who profit from the desperation of migrants. Along the way, it became evident that the cartel overseeing the route is making millions off a highly organised smuggling business, pushing as many people as possible through what amounts to a hole in the fence for migrants moving north, the distant American dream their only lodestar.
The smugglers charge exorbitant fees for their services, often promising safe passage across the gap but then end up abandoning the migrants in the jungle to fend for themselves. Some migrants reported being forced to carry drugs or weapons across the gap in exchange for passage.
People are the new commodity for cartels, perhaps preferable to drugs. Rivals do not try to steal them. Each migrant pays at least $400 for access to the jungle passage and absorbs all the risks themselves. According to CNN’s calculations, the smuggling trade earns the cartel tens of millions of dollars annually.
Despite the challenges posed by the Darien Gap, many migrants see no other choice but to attempt the crossing. As the situation in Venezuela continues to deteriorate, and as other countries in the region struggle with poverty, violence, and political instability, the allure of North America grows stronger.
Manuel, 29, and his wife Tamara, (not their real name for safety reasons) finally decided to flee Venezuela with their children, after years of scrabbling to secure food and other necessities. A socioeconomic crisis fuelled by President Nicolás Maduro’s authoritarian government, worsened by the global pandemic and US sanctions, has led one in four Venezuelans to flee the country since 2015.
“It’s thanks to our beautiful president … the dictatorship – why we’re in this sh*t… We had been planning this for a while when we saw the news that the US was helping us – the immigrants. So here we are now. Living the journey,” Manuel said. But it was unclear what help he was referring to.
“Trusting in God to leave,” interrupted Tamara. “It’s all of us, or no one,” added Manuel, on the decision to bring their two young children.
But many are naïve to what lies ahead. They’ve been told that the days of trekking are few and easy, and they can pack light. But money, not prayer, will decide who will survive the journey.
A pregnant woman said: “We’ve been here for nine days. I’ll be close to giving birth here. They don’t give us answers. They have us working and don’t give us a ‘yes, it’s [time] for you to leave.’ In the end, they lie to us.”
Diarrhoea, lice, colds – the complaints grow. They point towards the appalling hygiene of the shower blocks, where dirty water just drains onto the ground outside. The nearby wash basins are worse: no water and human faeces on the floor.
“The whole point of surviving the jungle was for an easier way forwards, and now all we are is stuck,” says Manuel. “I was starting to have nightmares. My wife was the strong one. I collapsed.”
Their dream of freedom must wait, for now, replaced by servitude to a system designed to make them pay, wait, and risk – each in enough measure to drain their cash slowly from them, and keep them moving forward to the next hurdle.
Just this week the US, Panama and Colombia announced that they will launch a 60-day campaign aimed at ending illegal migration through the Darién Gap, which they said: “leads to death and exploitation of vulnerable people for a significant profit.” In a joint statement, the countries added that they will also use “new lawful and flexible pathways for tens of thousands of migrants and refugees as an alternative to irregular migration,” but did not elaborate any further.
