Fleeing to Stay Alive:
Tales of Forced Displacement in Venezuela and Gaza
Bruce N. Fisk, NEME Senior Research Fellow

From Panamá’s shiny capital we drove our rental as far as we could toward the border of Colombia. My wife and I had flown from Peru to attend a fortunate cousin’s unforgettable wedding, but we were as eager to meet some of the forgettable unfortunates desperately squeezing through the “narrow waist” of the American hemisphere. After years roaming the Middle East, we counted a number of Palestinian refugees among our friends, but thus far these Latino refugiados en movimiento existed for us in only two dimensions, as fodder for news reports and topics of awkward conversation.

Five hours on the road brought us to an impassable tangle of jungle, mountains and rivers. The Darién Gap as it’s called is the only break in the Pan-American highway—the 30,000 mile thread that weaves through fourteen countries from Alaska to Argentina. In Spanish it’s el Tapón, The Plug. For migrants and asylum seekers it’s the largest obstacle on the path from South America to their land of hope, the U.S.A. 

More than half a million souls dared the 100-kilometer Gap last year (2023). That’s 1,400 per day. They travel solo, as couples, as single parents with children. They form small groups along the way, many retracing the path of relatives who have sent money, and Instagram photos that romanticize immigrant life in the U.S. They encounter thieves and coyotes (human smugglers). They face abuse and sexual violation. They fear snake bites and injury, wolf attacks and drowning. 

Our drive ended in the dusty shambles of Lajas Blancas, a reception hamlet where migrants, emerging from the jungle on foot or in dugout canoes, find a few services and handouts. UN and Red Cross vehicles came and went. Trekkers clutched brand new sweatshirts bestowed by some NGO, oddly out of place in the tropical heat. 

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