Migrants crossing the Darien heard of Donald Trump’s victory — and picked up the pace

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A few days after Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election, the influx of migrants arriving in Panama to head north through the Darien Jungle remained steady. (AP/Matías Delacroix )

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Mariannis Zanzonetti rides on a boat with Venezuelan migrants who asked foe help from Panamanian border police along the Tuquesa River near Bajo Chiquito, Panama, after being robbed by armed men following their crossing of the Darién Gap from Colombia en route to the United States, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

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Nelson Pacheco holds the baby of a fellow Venezuelan migrant who are part of a group who walked across the Darien Gap from Colombia as they make their way north to the United States, in Bajo Chiquito, Panama, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

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a Panamanian border police talks to Colombian migrants who boarded a boat towards Bajo Chiquito, Panama, after walking across the Darién Gap from Colombia en route to the United States, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

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Migrants walk along the Tuquesa River, towards Bajo Chiquito, after crossing the Darién Gap from Colombia en route to the United States, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

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Migrants disembark from boats near Bajo Chiquito, Panama, following their crossing of the Darién Gap from Colombia en route to the United States, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

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Panamanian border police patrol on the Tuquesa River near Bajo Chiquito, the village in Panama where migrants arrived after crossing the Darién Gap from Colombia en route to the United States, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

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Migrants line up to board a boat at the Tuquesa River, near Bajo Chiquito, after walking across the Darién Gap from Colombia en route to the United States, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

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Migrants wait to board a Panamanian border police boat along the Tuquesa River toward Bajo Chiquito, Panama, after being robbed by armed men following their crossing of the Darién Gap from Colombia en route to the United States, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

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Migrants wait to board boats near Bajo Chiquito, Panama, after walking across the Darien Gap from Colombia as they make their way north to the United States, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

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Colombian migrants board a boat toward Bajo Chiquito, Panama, after walking across the Darién Gap from Colombia en route to the United States, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

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Venezuelan migrants embrace upon their arrival to Bajo Chiquito, after Panamanian border police found them along the Tuquesa River, robbed by armed men following their crossing of the Darién Gap from Colombia en route to the United States, in Bajo Chiquito, Panama, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

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Venezuelans arrive to Bajo Chiquito, the village in Panama where migrants arrive after crossing the Darién Gap from Colombia en route to the United States, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

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Panamanian police inspect the bags of migrants who arrived in Bajo Chiquito Panama, after crossing the Darien Gap from Colombia in hopes of reaching the United States, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

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Manuel Chironos communicates with relatives back in Venezuela by a sign reading in Spanish ‘Friendly Space” in Bajo Chiquito, Panama, the village where migrants arrive after walking across the Darién Gap from Colombia on their journey north to the United States, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

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Norexa Rolan, from Venezuela, lines up to present her documents to Panamian police in Bajo Chiquito, after crossing the Darien Gap into Panama, in hopes of reaching the United States, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

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Nora Pereira calls relatives back home in Venezuela at a camp in Bajo, Chiquito, where migrants arrive after crossing the Darien Gap from Colombia in hopes of reaching the United States, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

By MATÍAS DELACROIX

BAJO CHIQUITO, Panama (AP) — Jesús Chávez, a 34-year-old pastry chef from Barquisimeto, Venezuela, arrived in this small village at Panama’s edge of the Darien jungle on Friday.

He was traveling with five others, a mix of friends and family. They had all left Venezuela last Saturday with the goal of reaching the United States.

He said the group had waited in Venezuela for the results of July’s presidential election, but after President Nicolás Maduro was declared winner despite evidence that he had lost, they decided to leave. “We didn’t see any hope,” Chávez said.

They entered the Darien Gap Tuesday and heard about Donald Trump’s presidential victory while still trudging through the jungle.

“We’re trying to arrive as soon as possible, before January, to see if we have a chance with CBP One,” he said, referring to the U.S. government’s online portal that allows migrants to seek an appointment to request asylum at the border. Trump has said he will end CBP One.

Chávez said they wanted to get to the southern Mexican city of Tapachula where they would be able to access the app.

In Bajo Chiquito migrants can buy food, rent rooms, hammocks or spaces to set up their tents. There is Wi-Fi and NGOs offering medical care.

Not PARSE.LY: Venezuela

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Venezuelans make up the majority of migrants passing through, but the group Friday also included people from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Bangladesh.

Through Tuesday, Panama had recorded nearly 289,000 migrant arrivals through the Darien. This is about 38% fewer compared with the same period last year. Sixty-nine percent of this year’s arrivals were Venezuelans.

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