https://apnews.com/article/panama-costa-rica-migrants-buses-ad80274e210b42f56cbda540f66fbf39
Panamanian and Costa Rican Presidents agree to bus thousands of migrants through Panama to the Costa Rican border. The number of migrants moving through the Darien gap is increasing daily. By the end of this year half a million will have crossed the gap from Colombia to Panama. The dangerous walk has been reduced to be about 2 days for those who can make it. The bus service will reduce the amount of time to reach the U.S. to about 2 and a half weeks. This will hopefully reduce crowding at the reception camps in Panama where these people stay once exiting the Darien gap.
In my opinion I think this will help the thousands of people struggling to migrate. I also think that the relation between Panamanian and Costa Rican Presidents will grow stronger due to this and maybe lead to other plans between the 2 countries. Latin America is always struggling when it comes to migrating and the Darien gap is a dangerous way of travel for those who or desparate to migrate, so hopefully this make it easier and smoother for them. The U.S Panama and Colombia have tried to slow migration through the jungle down but it has only grown, which is forcing Biden to find other options for them. This does not surprise me, they are clearly determined if they are willing to walk all that way, so at least other options are being considered for them.
This relates back to class because we always talk about countries building relationships and which countries are allies, so it makes me wonder the future relationship between Panama and Costa Rica, and even Colombia. All 3 coutries have residents that are desparate to flee which forced them to work together for a plan. Will they be able to do this in other situations? Do they have similar standpoints on other policies? If so, how will they use their relationship to work through other issues? These are all topics that we discuss in class and hopefully we can hear it in the context of Panama and Costa Rica.