Central America
Migrants stranded in Panama amid US Policy crackdown and Darién gap barriers
Migrants who once dreamed of reaching the United States are now forced to head back south after the arrival of President Donald Trump and stricter immigration policies. Many are stranded in Panama, caught between the Darién jungle barrier and the high costs of crossing the Caribbean Sea.
In Miramar, a small coastal town in Panama, dozens of migrants—mostly Venezuelans—wait for a chance to continue their journey to Colombia. Private boat rides to the border are out of reach for many, with fares reaching up to $260 per person.
“Here we’re stopped by the sea and the money. If it were a road, we’d already be in Colombia. But paying for three tickets for me and my children is impossible,” lamented Marielbis Eloina Campos, a 33-year-old Venezuelan traveling alone with her four young children after waiting a week in Miramar.
Campos left Brazil in 2023 and crossed the dangerous Darién jungle alone with her children, one carried on her back. The journey took six days, and she recalls one child nearly drowning while crossing a river. Despite the risks, she reached Mexico City, where she stayed over a year waiting for an asylum appointment via the CBP-One app. However, its cancellation under the Trump administration forced her to give up and return to Brazil.
“Mexico is torture for us migrants. I feared my children would be kidnapped,” said Campos, who pleaded for help to continue without being chased as if immigration authorities were “a mafia.”
Due to the high cost of private transport, Panama organized a humanitarian trip that transported 109 migrants from nine nationalities from Colón to the Colombian border aboard an official boat of the National Aeronaval Service (Senan). Another similar operation is expected soon.
Panama’s president, José Raúl Mulino, expressed concern about this reverse migration flow:
“I am worried that the number of people moving from north to south is increasing,” he said this month.
Central America
Panama confirms drug contamination of El Salvador coffee shipment occurred on its territory
A container originating from El Salvador and carrying coffee for export was contaminated with more than 1,152 packages of drugs while in transit through Panama, according to official information confirmed by the Panamanian government this Tuesday.
The case, which had previously generated political controversy in April 2025 after opposition sectors attempted to link the Salvadoran government to drug trafficking, has now been clarified through renewed investigations.
Authorities confirmed that the container departed from the port of Acajutla after being properly inspected, with no illicit substances detected at the time of export.
According to statements previously provided by El Salvador’s Minister of Defense, René Merino Monroy, the shipment traveled first to the port of Balboa in Panama, where it remained stored for several days before being transferred to another vessel bound for Manzanillo in Colón.
It was at that terminal that Panamanian authorities discovered the drugs and identified tampering with the container seals, indicating that the illicit alteration occurred during its transit in Panama rather than in Salvadoran territory.
The findings align with earlier explanations provided by Salvadoran officials and confirm that the contamination of the cargo took place outside of El Salvador’s jurisdiction.
Central America
Uber Eats adds Puntarenas and Turrialba to growing Costa Rica network
Uber Eats announced that it is continuing to expand its presence in Costa Rica with the launch of operations in the cities of Puntarenas and Turrialba, further strengthening the company’s growth in the country.
With this expansion, the delivery platform is now available across all seven Costa Rican provinces and works with more than 6,000 partner businesses. Its offerings include prepared food, supermarkets, pharmacies, pet stores, and other specialty retailers.
As part of the announcement, Uber Eats also introduced Marco Nannipieri as its new Regional General Manager for the Andean Region, Central America, and the Caribbean.
Nannipieri will oversee the company’s operations in Costa Rica along with seven other countries in the region.
“Costa Rica is a key market for Uber Eats in the region, with growing adoption of technology among users and businesses. Over the past five years, more than 1,000 restaurants and merchants have joined the app, and today we are entering a new stage of expansion that will allow us to reach more cities outside the Greater Metropolitan Area, creating new opportunities for entrepreneurs across the country,” Nannipieri said.
Central America
Report questions direction of Nasry Asfura after 100 days in office
The Center for the Study of Democracy warned Tuesday that the government of Nasry Asfura, which marks its first 100 days in office on Wednesday, has failed to show a “significant change in direction” and continues to follow a model characterized by exclusion, inequality, and external dependence.
In its report titled “100 Days of the Nasry Asfura Government: Concerns and Demands,” Cespad stated that the administration has maintained an economic and political model that prioritizes debt payments, the promotion of extractive projects, and the strengthening of the security apparatus over social investment.
The organization argued that the current policies have not addressed structural problems affecting large sectors of the Honduran population and warned that inequality and economic dependence remain key challenges for the country.
Nasry Asfura won the general elections held on November 30, 2025, in a process marked by allegations of fraud and delays in the vote count that lasted nearly a month due to a series of technological failures.
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