Once There Was a Jungle

 I was stationed in the mid-1980s in Panama....for three years.  It was an rather odd period, and I could probably write a 400-page book over local events/history.  

One interesting aspect that I got into a discussion one day with a American canal employee (he'd been there for years)....about the southern part of the country....the Darien Gap.

It's the southern quarter of the country and extends for about 30 miles into Columbia.

On jungle status?  Five-star.

Back in the 1950s....some discussion had come up about making a road-way through the jungle....so you drive from Alaska all the way to the southern tip of Chile.  Eventually, they reasoned that the Gap was not capable of supporting such a road.  Nothing was ever built.

Prior to the last decade, you'd hear about such-and-such adventure team either treking through the jungle there, or even taking a 4x4 jeep down some trail.

Key negatives?  Snakes, gators, and Pumas.  It's about sixty to eighty miles (depending on where you leave from or arrive), and you can figure a max of maybe ten to fifteen miles a day (at least in the 1980s).  Figure four to six days of walking in such a setting.

Well...it got brought up in the past week....around 350,000 folks (mostly Venezuelan folks) have made the trip in 2023 so far....heading north to the US border.  My guess is that it'll hit 450,000 by the end of the year.  Your guess for 2024?  It might go well above half-a-million.  

An established trail now?  Yeah.  And I'd guess that a thousand folks a day are now walking this trail as a minimum.

Panama disturbed by this?  You see differing views.  The Gap was supposed to be a barrier where people didn't penetrate the country.  As long as people continue walking north, I don't think it'll be a big deal.

Affecting the population of Venezuela?  Well....before Covid, they had a population of 28-million.  Since Covid and this exit-stuff?  I doubt that the 28-number is correct and might suggest that it's starting to get near 26-million.  

The problem is...once you prove the Gap trail is utterly safe......nothing much would hinder a 12-year old Venezuelan kid from taking the walk and exiting crappy conditions in Venezuela.  3,200 mile walk?  If you throw in an occasional bus or train ride....a kid could probably arrive in El Paso in 20 days.