Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino announced that he had proposed to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the US use Panama as a center for deporting illegal migrants to other South American countries, Agence France-Presse reported.
“I offered him the area of the Nicanor a Meteti airport, in the province of Darien, from where repatriation of people from other countries such as Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and others could be carried out“, Mulino said during a press conference after his meeting with Rubio.
The one-on-one conversation between the two was dominated by the topic of the Panama Canal, over which US President Donald Trump wants to “regain control“ due to influence from China. The US Secretary of State threatened measures if Panamanian authorities did not "make immediate changes" in the management of the Canal.
On July 1, the first day of Mulino's term, the US and Panama signed an agreement in which Washington committed to financing up to $6 million in flights used by Panamanian authorities to deport migrants who crossed the border without documents.
The goal was to limit migration through the Darien jungle on the border with Colombia. This jungle has become a corridor for South American migrants trying to reach the United States.
According to Mulino, the extension of the agreement will allow migrants deported by the United States to arrive in Panama through the small airport located in the city of Meteti, in the eastern part of the country, from where they can be returned to their home countries.
According to the Panamanian president, the United States could cover the costs necessary to adapt the facilities. "We can do it without a problem, at the expense of the United States. Panama will not invest a single dollar in this," he said.
The Darien jungle, where criminal gangs operate, was crossed by more than half a million people in 2023. In 2024, almost 300,000 people passed through it.