Hungary gives lessons on migration in Central America
Last week, while visiting Panama, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó explained the migration policy of the Carpathian Basin country, extremely reluctant to irregular migration. Budapest's perspective on this matter does not see irregular migration as a humanitarian problem, but as a matter of national security. "The key to Hungary's success is that we do not consider it a human rights issue, but a security issue and we have to speak with [sound] clarity: not respecting a country's border is a crime," Szijjártó said in Panama City.
The head of diplomacy in the ultra-nationalist Central European nation also rejected criticism from international NGOs of his hard-line policy, a nod to Panama in its conflict with Médecins Sans Frontières over allegations of insecurity faced by migrants in the Darién Gap. The migrants leave the jungle, but no one knows all the human essence—both physical and emotional—they lost along the way. "We are extremely concerned about the normalization of situations of extreme violence, such as extortion, kidnapping, and sexual violence, which directly affect the physical and mental health of this population", denounces MSF, putting forward a theory valid for the entire migratory route: "violence has become a mechanism for regulating the migratory flow".
Szijjártó in Panamá (source).In coastal Necoclí, Colombia, the starting point of the journey to the American dream—through Darién—for Venezuelans, Ecuadorians, Haitians, Chinese and Colombians, the IACHR paints another gray picture: "[there is] an evident situation of humanitarian crisis: people are hungry, have no health, suffer violence, extortion, rape, and what the [organization] notices is an absence of the State". There, as we have commented on other occasions, migrants continue to wait sometimes for months sleeping on the beach to collect the money to cross the Caribbean Sea to Acandí, the gateway to the Darién.
However, the favorite candidate for the presidential elections in Panamá, the replacement in the race for the corruption-tainted former president Ricardo Martinelli, embraces the Hungarian conceptualization of the migration issue. Lawyer José Raúl Malino, also indicted in the past for alleged corruption, speaks of "closing" the Darién. "We are going to close Darién and we are going to repatriate all these people as appropriate, respecting human rights," says Martinelli's dolphin, who is staying at the Managua embassy in the Panamanian capital.
Maulino, standing, greets a citizen traveling by car (source)."The US border [...] ran to Panama. So we have to do trilateral work [between the United States, Colombia, and Panama], and [it has] to be understood that Panama is not a transit country for immigrants". Mulino, a former security minister, leads all bets with just 13 days before the presidential elections, which are decided by a simple majority in a single round. Anyway, a Supreme Court decision is pending on alleged irregularities in his designation as Martinelli's substitute candidate.
Overcome by circumstances, many Latin American migrants now decide to make a life in Mexico
According to statements by the United Nations Refugee Agency, "[one] in three people on the move in the country [shared their] hope of making Mexico their new home, a finding that coincides with the record number of asylum applications in 2023". The Aztec nation was the third worldwide with the most asylum applications last year. "It is a fact that Mexico is not only a country of transit and origin for people seeking protection elsewhere, but it has also become a country of destination", says the UNHCR, adding that more than 1,500 people—out of a sample of 6,000—said they wanted Mexico to be the end point of their migratory odyssey in a study conducted in 2023.
The physical restrictions and anxiety imposed by the hard-line policies of Texas Governor Greg Abbott are weighing heavily here. For example, in the middle of this month, it was reported that 30 children had episodes of fever, vomiting, and diarrhea as a result of the binary extreme weather that plagues the area near Gate 36 of the border wall dividing Ciudad Juarez, where 24 bodies with signs of violence have been found in April alone, and El Paso, reinforced with more razor wire that has forced migrants to improvise camps exposed to the sharpest cold, the most relentless heat, and the stagnant and polluted waters of the Rio Grande. Regarding the causes that motivate the always traumatic departure from their countries of origin, the migrants mentioned violence and extortion as the main ones.
A 30-year-old Nicaraguan woman holds her daughter at an improvised camp between Ciudad Juárez and El Paso on April 20, along the riverbed of the Rio Grande (source).Bolsonaro shows muscle in Brazil
The as controversial as popular Jair Bolsonaro showed his convening power this Sunday at a rally attended by thousands of supporters in the exclusive area of Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro. There, the conservative-leaning politician alluded to the conflict between Elon Musk and Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who investigates cases of alleged dissemination of fake news and calls to disregard public order involving X. Bolsonaro presented Musk as a sort of watchdog of democracy and freedom on behalf of Brazilians. "He dared to show, with some evidence (...) where our democracy was going, how much freedom we have already lost," said the former president, under investigation for trying to disown Lula da Silva's close victory and undermine confidence in the electoral system, among other open cases. Appealing to classic right-wing jargon, Bolsonaro referred to the government of the veteran union leader in terms of "dictatorship." "What you see here are people who love freedom, who will not give up or kneel before dictators; people who are willing to give their lives for freedom," said an emboldened Bolsonarista legislator.
SourceColombian opposition sends strong message to Petro
Without clear leadership, the coffee opposition showed a lot of strength yesterday, Sunday, in another multitudinous demonstration that must not have sat well at all in the House of Nariño. The main points moving the people demanding Petro's departure are his proposals for social reforms—all stalled in Congress—, the potential and controversial call for a constituent assembly, and the economic and security situation. "It's a march where everyone is coming out to tell the president: this is not the way things are, you won the elections, but know how to govern," a demonstrator tells to AP. "We have been quiet for a long time, but not anymore. I see democracy in danger, because he is seeking to make a constituent assembly outside the law and wants to impose reforms at any cost without the approval of the Legislative", denounced another. Confidence in Petro—who asked the "popular forces" to respond with another demonstration on Workers' Day—would be in the red according to several estimates.
Imágenes de las marchas contra el gobierno Petro: miles de ciudadanos, de manera pacífica, salieron a protestar y a pedirle al mandatario que escuche a la oposición.
— Noticias Caracol (@NoticiasCaracol) April 21, 2024
Cubrimiento especial en https://t.co/yqNEZK7rZ3 pic.twitter.com/QBocFS5jGQ
And this is all for our report today. I have referenced the sources dynamically in the text, and remember you can learn how and where to follow the LATAM trail news by reading my work here. Have a nice day.
