Predatory business is booming and ultimately filling the pockets of the feared Gulf Clan cartel, which dominates the region where the Darien Gap route falls.
Desperation to make the harrowing journey in the hope of a better life in the United States has become a cash cow for Acandi locals. Photo: AFP
If migrants can't afford that, the wristband indicates they must wait until they have the money - or manage to negotiate a group discount - to move on from the camp set up by a self-styled"community organisation" made up of residents of Acandi, a small town on the Colombian side of the infamous rainforest ordeal.
With a record 380,000 people crossing the Darien Gap in the first nine months of this year, observers say predatory business is booming and ultimately filling the pockets of Colombia's feared Gulf Clan cartel which dominates the region.The minimum of $170 gets migrants a guide for the treacherous journey from South America to Central America, as well as medical care and toilet access.
Every day, some 2,500 people fleeing violence and poverty across Latin America, and from some African and Asian nations, pass through the town to start the 266-kilometre journey through the Darien Gap.Colombia's defence ministry says the Gulf Clan is firmly behind the migrant business in the remote region.The organisation says the fee it charges makes it possible to provide the space for migrants to pitch tents, access bathrooms and buy food, all while providing jobs to some 2,000 locals.
"The truth is, that the only thing the Gulf Clan has told us is that if a migrant is robbed, killed or raped, the one responsible becomes a military target" and will be killed, he said.Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Gulf Clan spokesman said that"no one is being mistreated" in the region. Mauricio Valencia, an expert with the Peace and Reconciliation Foundation think tank, said the Gulf Clan carries out"criminal governance" in the region.
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