Panamanian President José Mulino (left) posing for a photo with US Southern Command head, General Laura Richardson. in Panama City on Tuesday, August 6, 2024, just days after Venezuelan presidential elections. Photo: X/@as_salazar.
The agreements between the US and Panama include migratory control and to carry out coordinated actions against the Venezuelan government
Panama’s President, José Raúl Mulino, and the Head of the US Department of Defense Southern Command, Laura Richardson, met in the Peace Room of the Palacio de las Garzas (the seat of government in Panama City) on August 6, to discuss possible action plans in the face of regional phenomena such as migration, drug trafficking, organized crime, and the recent presidential elections in Venezuela.
One more “gap” in the Darien Gap
For several months now, the United States government has been exerting international pressure to stem the flow of migrants arriving at its southern border. The Darien Gap is located in the southern part of Panama. It is a jungle area that, due to its natural swamp characteristics, prevents the construction of roads connecting Central America with South America. In recent years, due to its strategic location, it has become a major, unregulated migrant crossing point, with thousands upon thousands of migrants entering the jungle to cross it on foot, suffering terrible problems along the way, such as flooding, mosquito bites, plant wounds, as well as risking rape, disappearances, and death.
However, as Panama has become a major crossing point for migrants, the United States now intends to control this point to curb their arrival north. A few weeks ago, the Biden administration delivered USD 6 million to the Panamanian government in an agreement that has been described by several experts as “colonial”. The deal consists of the United States “assisting” Panama in the expeditious repatriation of irregular migrants by paying for the airline tickets of deportees, increasing the budget for political asylum programs, and providing training for faster deportations.
US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said, “The US continues to secure our borders and remove people without a legal basis to remain, we are grateful for our partnership with Panama to manage historic levels of migration throughout the Western Hemisphere.”
Venezuela in the spotlight
Another key agreement was regarding the situation in Venezuela. They agreed that pressure should be increased against the government of Nicolás Maduro. Both the United States and Panama have been quick to recognize candidate Edmundo González Urrutia as the winner of the last presidential elections. For this reason, the United States committed to investing large sums of money to fight against its political enemies in the region.
The Panamanian presidency wrote in a communiqué that “General Richardson and Ambassador [Mari Carmen] Aponte [of the United States in Panama] showed concern for the democratic and security instability in the countries of the hemisphere, and emphasized the importance of Panama as a strategic partner. To that end, they said they are willing to make significant investments to help ensure the democratic sustainability of Panama and the region.”
Panama assured that it would make the necessary diplomatic efforts to create a front against the Chavista government and in favor of the Venezuelan opposition.
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“President Mulino took advantage of the presence of General Richardson and the U.S. Ambassador to Panama, Mari Carmen Aponte, to ask for support from the US government regarding its initiative to invite 17 leaders of the hemisphere to a meeting in Panama this month, to make a joint statement on Venezuela, and seek a peaceful solution to the conflict in that nation,” stated the Panamanian presidency in the communiqué.
The composition of a regional bloc of countries that intends to isolate Venezuela diplomatically has reemerged. If the past strategies implemented against the Caribbean country are repeated, new economic sanctions could be foreseen in an attempt to suffocate the Maduro government and force regime change.
The diplomatic strategy against Venezuela should not be separated from the efforts to regulate migration to the United States. If we add the so-called “war on drugs” and the various military agreements signed between several Latin American countries and the United States, we can see a clear attempt by the United States to ensure its geopolitical hegemony over the Western Hemisphere.
(People’s Dispatch) by Pablo Meriguet
