HRW: Clan del Golfo control routes to the Darién jungle

Members of the criminal organization Clan del Golfo control routes to the Darién jungle, a crucial path for one of the massive migration routes to the United States.

The international organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) asserts that, from the Colombian side of the Darién Gap, a record number of half a million people have crossed it this year.

However, the report suggests that criminals from the Clan del Golfo control routes to the Darién jungle and profit from this kind of toll.

The document aims to highlight the dramatic situation in the wooded area between Colombia and Panama, which has become a crossing point for thousands of people from various nationalities on their way to Central America and Mexico with the goal of entering US territory.

“Venezuelans, Haitians, and Ecuadorians, as well as people from other continents such as Asia and Africa, risk their lives in this jungle, where they are exposed to abuses by criminal groups, including sexual violence, and receive little protection or humanitarian assistance,” warns the HRW document released on November 9.

HRW specifies that, since January 2022, more than 440,000 Venezuelans have crossed the Darién Gap, the highest number among all nationalities.

They are followed by more than 80,000 Ecuadorians and over 63,000 Haitians.

“On the Colombian side of the Darién, the Clan del Golfo, an armed group involved in drug trafficking, regulates the routes that migrants and asylum seekers can use, decides who can assist them on the way, extorts those who benefit from the migratory flow, and establishes rules of conduct for the local population and migrants, sometimes enforced through violence,” states the international report.

-Clan del Golfo control routes to the Darién jungle: Lucrative Business-

According to HRW, the Colombian Army estimates that Clan del Golfo controls routes to the Darién jungle and charges around $125 for each person who crosses.

If this number is correct, this criminal gang would have earned almost $60 million just in 2023. This is due to their control of the migratory route on the Colombian side, which is, in practice, the migrants’ access point to enter the Darién jungle.

The passage through the Darién, despite its inhospitable and violent nature, has experienced significant increases.

Over 130,000 migrants, mainly Haitians and Cubans, crossed in 2021. The number nearly doubled to 250,000 in 2022, with a high influx of Venezuelans and Ecuadorians since last year.

Between January and October of this year, the figure has already reached half a million people.

The Darién, once an impregnable natural barrier, is a hell according to migrants’ testimonies. The terrain is steep and slippery, and the rivers are powerful.

Most routes, as confirmed by HRW with four field visits, follow paths that crown hills with heights of up to 1,800 meters.

Those who cross refer to the highest point as the “Loma de la Muerte” (Hill of Death), and the Turquoise River as the “Río de la Muerte” (River of Death), due to the large number of corpses in its waters.

One reason for the rapid increase was the decision, made that year, by Mexico and several Central American countries to require visas for Venezuelans.

This decision prompted many people who could not reach Mexico legally to cross the Darién, intending to continue their overland journey through several countries, ultimately aiming to reach the United States.

Also read: Study for Free in Military and Police Training Schools in Colombia.