Flight data shows that more than 260 charter flights believed to be carrying migrants from Haiti have touched down in Nicaragua in recent months. That adds to a historic crush of migration by people hoping to reach the U.S. The flow of migrants has left the Biden administration and Latin American leaders scrambling for solutions.
FILE - Haitian migrants who hope to apply for asylum in the U.S. wait to register their names on a list made by a religious organization in Reynosa, Mexico, Dec. 21, 2022, on the other side of the border with McAllen, Texas. FILE - Haitian migrants wade across the Tuquesa river after trekking through the Darien Gap in Bajo Chiquito, Panama, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023.
The journeys are not on official air routes, but flight tracking data that has been analyzed by Orozco and The Associated Press shows that 268 of the charter flights went from Haiti to Nicaragua since the beginning of August. Things came to a head this weekend, when local media reported that in 48 hours, 27 charter flights from Haiti had landed in Nicaragua. The mounting number of flights comes at a strategic moment for Ortega’s government, said Enrique Martínez, a spokesperson for the dissident group Platform for Democratic Unity.
“Ortega is going to use this migration issue to say to the United States that we’re the ones in control,” Martinez said. “ And if they want to stop this, they’re going to have to negotiate.” Asked if the carrier’s services are being used by people smugglers to carry out migration to the U.S., Armand said the company checks passengers’ documents before boarding.
In Tapachula, Mexico, near the Guatemalan border, tensions have risen along with the increase in the number of migrants passing through the city.
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