Jose Raul Mulino was sworn in Monday as Panama’s new president, with the right-leaning leader pledging to make his Central American country no longer a “transit” point for US-bound undocumented migrants.
Mulino, 65, was elected in May after a campaign in which he vowed to close the dangerous migration route through the Darien jungle between Colombia and Panama.
More than half a million undocumented migrants passed through the so-called Darien Gap last year — subject to abuses criticized by rights groups.
On Monday, after taking the oath of office, he said Panama “cannot continue to finance the economic cost of illegal migration… Panama will no longer be a transit country for illegal immigrants.”
He has previously promised to deport migrants bound for the United States who enter Panama illegally.
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