International

Migrant women, victims of theft, rape and with their children in tow for the Darién

Migration has long ceased to be a thing for men. Women alone, with children or with their partners leave their homes behind having to go through a “hell” like the Darién jungle, where they are victims of rape or robberies while carrying their children: “come on, there is little left.”

At the checkpoint of Bajo Chiquito, the first indigenous town that migrants arrive at after crossing the Darién jungle, the natural border between Panama and Colombia, the Panamanian authorities take the data of the hundreds of newcomers who, exhausted, are waiting for patients in their turn. Behind the officials, apart, sits a girl. Suddenly, it seems that he has identified someone in the queue.

“Do you know this girl?” the officer tells a woman. “Are you 12 years old?” she replies. They ask the girl and she nods. The officer then asks him if he knows where his mother is. “Yes, it’s coming further back.”

Venezuelan Karely Salazar, 31, travels with her daughters, 7, 10 and 12 years old. They have gone to the village outpatient clinic. The older girl smiles, protective with one of her sisters. The mother holds the other in her arms. “Right now I have this smaller one with a fever, with a cold fever, a two-day-old girl stuck in the river,” the woman explains to EFE, exhausted. “The father of them is in Venezuela,” he clarifies, without giving details.

“Thank God we crossed the jungle, but it really wasn’t easy, very difficult for the children,” he says. Children have to be climbed by stones, if you slip they can fall into the void, into the river, “and they go hungry, and they get cold,” and they can get ahead or stay behind.

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“Did your eldest daughter get lost?” “Yes,” the mother nods, and her face changes. She says that the second day of walking she felt very bad on one leg, she couldn’t move, and the little girl walked among the people and “lost her way.”

“I didn’t sleep last night, because the girl got ahead of me and reached a part of the river that had to stop and she woke up there and I still woke up inside the jungle. Last night I cried and cried because I didn’t know where I was,” says the mother.

Try to explain yourself, to make it understood: “I came alone and with three girls, imagine, pull here, pending this one, take care that you fall, but no, the jungle is really not recommended, really not.”

Hundreds of migrants, or thousands, pass through that jungle every day when the flow is highest.

According to data from the Panamanian authorities, after the historical record of more than 520,000 migrants who crossed the Darién in 2023, so far this year more than 130,000 have already done so, including about 104,000 adults, of which about 35% are women. And among the more than 28,600 minors, 47% are girls.

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The Panamanian authorities generally maintain a harsh speech against migration, remembering that on the Colombian side the control is held by the criminal group of the Gulf Clan, which in 2023 received about 68 million dollars for the passage of the migrants, in addition to other gangs that steal and attack those who pass by.

The director of Migration of Panama, Samira Gozaine, goes further: “There are stories of people who say that mothers put the children to drown in the river because it weighs heavily on them, when (…) the hills become very dense and they can’t continue, they simply abandon them to their fate,” she told EFE a year ago.

For the internationalist lawyer and human rights activist Iván Chanis, this type of speech “dehumanizes” and moves away from reality, because, as he explains to EFE, “what mother wants to leave her daughter behind?”

Luisannys Mundaraín, 22 years old, carries her baby in her arms. It gives him breastfeed. He tells EFE that when he crossed one of the cliffs with the baby, he slipped, but he was able to hold on at the last moment. To which were added the snakes, spiders, rivers, and “the thieves who steal one, also rape women.”

Mundaraín then recounts how his group was intercepted in “a ridge” by a group of armed hooded people, who asked him for “100 dollars for each, and the one who did not give him the money had to deliver the phone, if it was not an iPhone no, or if it was a woman he had to stay there, you know what for.”

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Doctors Without Borders (MSF) assured, before the Panamanian authorities vetoed them from continuing to provide medical care in the country, that they treated more than 1,300 people for sexual violence in the Darién between April 2021 and January 2024.

“What you live in is a total hell,” says the young woman, but the crisis in Venezuela gave her no other option, with 12-hour work in a supermarket for 20 dollars a week, when “a pack of diapers was that if at 5 dollars and the most expensive food.”

Thus, when in the election campaign some Panamanian politicians were heard saying that they wanted to close the 266 kilometers of border in Darién, the young woman sighed.

“Something impossible to close it, because that way there are thousands of dangers, migrants will always continue to go through what they suffer in those countries, we are poor. They will always keep happening, risking their lives, the children, everything,” he concludes.

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International

Mexican Navy Ships Deliver Third Shipment of Humanitarian Aid to Cuba

Two logistics support vessels from the Mexican Navy — the ARM Papaloapan and the ARM Huasteco — docked again on Friday in the bay of Havana carrying a third shipment of humanitarian aid for Cuba.

The vessels had previously arrived on the Caribbean island on February 28 with a second cargo that included 1,200 tons of food, sent to help alleviate the country’s ongoing crisis, which has worsened following the U.S. oil restrictions affecting fuel supplies to the island.

Cuba’s deputy foreign minister Josefina Vidal confirmed the new shipment in a social media post.

“Two ships carrying a third shipment of aid from the Government and the people of Mexico for the Cuban people are now arriving at the port of Havana. Thank you Mexico for your solidarity with Cuba,” she wrote.

Previous aid shipments

During the second shipment, the Papaloapan transported 1,078 tons of beans and powdered milk, while the Huastecocarried 92 tons of beans and 23 tons of assorted food products collected by social organizations with support from the government of Mexico City.

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In recent months, Mexico has become the largest provider of humanitarian aid to Cuba, sending around 2,000 tons of supplies, mostly staple foods and hygiene products, in the two shipments prior to Friday’s delivery.

The first shipment alone included 814 tons of food.

Cuba praises Mexico’s support

Hours before the ships arrived, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel highlighted Mexico’s support during a televised appearance, describing the country as “a friendly and brotherly nation that has shown tremendous solidarity,”particularly praising Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

Díaz-Canel also addressed reports suggesting that Mexican donations were being resold in state-run stores, dismissing them as a “disinformation campaign” promoted by right-wing groups.

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International

Ecuador Declares 60-Day National Emergency After Deadly Floods and Landslides

Ecuador has declared a 60-day national emergency to address the impact of a severe rainy season that has left 11 people dead and more than 50,000 affected since January, the government’s disaster management authority announced Friday.

Prolonged heavy rains accompanied by thunderstorms have caused river overflows and landslides, mainly in the coastal provinces of Guayas, El Oro, Esmeraldas, Los Ríos, Manabí and Santa Elena, as well as in the Andean provinces of Lojaand Chimborazo.

According to the Secretariat for Risk Management of Ecuador, the emergency declaration was issued “due to the level of impact caused nationwide on the population, the road network, infrastructure, and livelihoods.”

“The emergency declaration is aimed at responding to the effects and negative impacts and preventing their further spread,” the agency said in a statement.

International

Trump Pushes for Regime Change in Cuba as Havana Confirms Talks With Washington

U.S. President Donald Trump has made no secret of his desire for political change in Cuba, located just 150 kilometers from the United States. Washington considers the island an “exceptional threat,” citing its close ties with Russia, Chinaand Iran, longtime allies of Havana.

Trump has urged Cuba to “reach a deal” with Washington or face consequences, as the island struggles with a severe energy crisis that has nearly paralyzed its economy after the United States cut oil shipments from Venezuela, its main fuel supplier. The U.S. has also warned other countries against selling fuel to Havana.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel confirmed that Cuban officials have recently held talks with representatives of the U.S. government. The statement came during a meeting with senior members of the ruling Communist Party of Cuba and the executive committee of the Council of Ministers, according to footage broadcast on Cuban television.

“These conversations have been aimed at seeking solutions through dialogue to the bilateral differences that exist between our two nations,” Díaz-Canel said.

Reports of intermediaries and possible negotiations

According to television images, among those attending the meeting was Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, grandson of former Cuban leader Raúl Castro. Although he holds no official government position, U.S. media have identified him as a possible interlocutor with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in what have been described as secret discussions between Washington and Havana.

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For some Cubans, any potential agreement with Washington is viewed pragmatically. “As long as it benefits us, we can reach an agreement — but on our terms,” said Sergio Guerra, a 55-year-old agricultural vendor, speaking to AFP.

Díaz-Canel’s remarks confirm earlier statements by Trump, who indicated in January that his administration had already begun contacts with senior Cuban officials.

Mexico calls for diplomacy

Meanwhile, Mexico welcomed the possibility of dialogue after recently sending more than 2,000 tons of humanitarian aid to Cuba to help mitigate the crisis.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her country would always promote peace and diplomatic dialogue, particularly in response to what she described as the long-standing injustice of the U.S. embargo on the Cuban people.