Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino denied on Saturday that he requested U.S. military support to curb the migration crisis in the remote Darién jungle before Donald Trump returned to the White House, as claimed by a former advisor to the U.S. president. John Bolton, a former advisor during Trump’s first administration (2017–2021), told Spanish newspaper El País on Thursday that Mulino “had requested U.S. troops to be deployed in the Darién Gap, on the border between Colombia and Panama, through which hundreds of people passed daily aiming to reach the United States.”
Mulino responded in a statement on Saturday that Panama’s response to the migration surge “in the Darién was carried out by Panamanian forces, primarily funded by the country’s own resources and supported by international organizations.” “Mr. Bolton, with his conspiracies, disrespects the Panamanian people in general, and particularly the security forces who spent countless days confronting adversity with courage and determination,” he added.
The Central American president acknowledged that after taking office, he signed an agreement in 2024 with Joe Biden, Trump’s predecessor, but said the pact “never involved a request for military assistance.” Previously, Mulino had refuted Bolton’s claims on the social media platform X, calling them “false and reckless.”
“That border was closed thanks to the comprehensive effort and determination of Panama, without ever requiring such a thing. Today, the Darién no longer has that problem, and I have presented clear evidence of this to the U.S. and the world,” he emphasized. Over the past three years, more than a million migrants—mostly Venezuelans—have crossed the jungle heading toward the United States, facing dangers such as wild animals, fast-flowing rivers, and criminal groups.
However, jungle crossings have dropped to minimal levels due to fear of deportation under Trump, and the movement has now reversed. Since returning to the White House in January, the Republican leader launched a mass deportation campaign targeting undocumented migrants and has declared a state of emergency at the Mexican border to block the entry of people without visas, claiming the country is facing an “invasion.”
Due to the decrease in movement through the Darién, Panama had already announced in March the closure of several migrant shelters in the area that were established with international support.
