“It is a sovereign decision between Panama and the United States; the latter is considering proposals for Costa Rica to also participate in that program,” these were the statements of President Rodrigo Chaves to the Panamanian newspaper La Estrella in recent days about the neighboring country’s new projects to control migratory flows entering from South America and that generated expectations about possible alliances or expansions of already existing agreements.
In the same conversation, the president insisted that Costa Rica will follow up and observe the development of the plans; a position in which other institutions close to the subject agree.
“President Chaves was interviewed by two Panamanian media and one Costa Rican media. He said that we were going to observe how this program was developed in Panama, and then consider whether or not it would be appropriate to do something similar in Costa Rica,” said the Chancellor, Arnoldo André, in an interview.
Managing migration safely and humanely
From the United States Embassy, for their part, they maintain that there are already agreements to address migration from various fronts. “The United States and Costa Rica continue their joint work to manage migration safely and humanely in our region,” the diplomatic office said.
“Under the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection, the United States collaborates with 21 regional partners, including Costa Rica; to promote stability, expand legal avenues and manage borders in a humane manner,” they added. It also stands out that the Ministry of Security was consulted about the issue, but they indicated that it was the responsibility of Foreign Affairs.
The interests of the United States
Regarding the United States plans, Chaves detailed that a possible focus of the plan would be the identification of profiles with prior records. “The United States has an interest in ensuring that certain people with criminal records do not reach its border and we are discussing the possibility. First, operationally, if it is possible to identify them, how to do it and once identified, how they would be deported,” the president mentioned. In any case, he reiterated Costa Rica’s expectation to first see how the plans develop.
“The viability of the proposal must be analyzed from that point of view if possible: what happens if the person refuses to be repatriated; what type of protections Costa Rican legislation would give you; What happens if the sending country of that migrant that does not correspond reaches the United States or another destination and this country does not receive it,” he responded.
“We are in principle studying the proposal. I imagine that Panama has already made that evaluation and that is why we are interested in seeing what happens here,” he insisted.
Panama’s options to close El Darién
In recent years, the flows of migrants traveling from the south to the north of the continent have become a challenge for the countries that remain as transit areas. Along these lines, the issue of how to improve control in El Darién was one of the key axes of the last elections in Panama. The winner of the process, José Raul Mulino, even proposed the closure of the jungle.
With the new administration taking office in the neighboring country on July 1, the implementation of a broader strategy to control the crossing began. This includes everything from the installation of barriers in the border area to a deportation plan.
In that last axis, United States cooperation is becoming key. The Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, signed the agreement with Panama where an initial injection of $6 million was given for the development of new immigration management plans.
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