Cubans Head to US...Via Panama
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In this June 22, 2012 photo, a man bathes in a river at dawn in the Darien province on the border with Colombia, in Union Choco, Panama. Panamanian authorities began noticing five years ago that the Darien Gap, the only interruption in the Pan-American Highway, was being used by migrant smugglers, usually to move people from Asia and Africa. Panama's Public Safety Minister Jose Murillo says that the movement of people from Asia and Africa has tapered off but that hundreds of Cubans are now taking the arduous Darien Gap route toward the United States. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)
In this June 18, 2012 photo, Panama border police travel in a bus in route to the Darien province on the border with Colombia, in Meteti, Panama. Panamanian authorities began noticing five years ago that the Darien Gap, the only interruption in the Pan-American Highway, was being used by migrant smugglers, usually to move people from Asia and Africa. Panama's Public Safety Minister Jose Murillo says that the movement of people from Asia and Africa has tapered off but that hundreds of Cubans are now taking the arduous Darien Gap route toward the United States. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)
In this July 3, 2012 photo, a detained migrant from Cuba talks with migrants from Bangladesh as they rest at a shelter after being found in the Darien province by Panama border police in Meteti, Panama. Panamanian authorities began noticing five years ago that the Darien Gap, the only interruption in the Pan-American Highway, was being used by migrant smugglers, usually to move people from Asia and Africa. Panama's Public Safety Minister Jose Murillo says that the movement of people from Asia and Africa has tapered off but that hundreds of Cubans are now taking the arduous Darien Gap route toward the United States. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)
In this June 20, 2012 photo, a Panama border police cleans the bullets of a machine gun at a police station in the Darien province on the border with Colombia, in Union Choco, Panama. Panamanian authorities began noticing five years ago that the Darien Gap, the only interruption in the Pan-American Highway, was being used by migrant smugglers, usually to move people from Asia and Africa. Panama's Public Safety Minister Jose Murillo says that the movement of people from Asia and Africa has tapered off but that hundreds of Cubans are now taking the arduous Darien Gap route toward the United States. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)
In this June 19, 2012 photo, Panama border police patrol by boat in the Darien province on the border with Colombia, near Yaviza, Panama. Panamanian authorities began noticing five years ago that the Darien Gap, the only interruption in the hemisphere-spanning Pan-American Highway, was being used by migrant smugglers, usually to move people from Asia and Africa. Panama's Public Safety Minister Jose Murillo says that the movement of people from Asia and Africa has tapered off but that hundreds of Cubans are now taking the arduous Darien Gap route toward the United States. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)
In this June 19, 2012 photo, people bathe in the river as the sun sets in the Darien province on the border with Colombia, in Union Choco, Panama. Panamanian authorities began noticing five years ago that the Darien Gap, the only interruption in the Pan-American Highway, was being used by migrant smugglers, usually to move people from Asia and Africa. Panama's Public Safety Minister Jose Murillo says that the movement of people from Asia and Africa has tapered off but that hundreds of Cubans are now taking the arduous Darien Gap route toward the United States. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)
In this July 3, 2012 photo, detained migrants from India pose for a portrait at a shelter where they are resting with others after being found in the Darien province by the border police in Meteti, Panama. Panamanian authorities began noticing five years ago that the Darien Gap, the only interruption in the Pan-American Highway, was being used by migrant smugglers, usually to move people from Asia and Africa. Panama's Public Safety Minister Jose Murillo says that the movement of people from Asia and Africa has tapered off but that hundreds of Cubans are now taking the arduous Darien Gap route toward the United States. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)
In this June 21, 2012 photo, a Panama border police officer walks past Embera children near a police station in the Darien province on the border with Colombia, in Union Choco, Panama. Panamanian authorities began noticing five years ago that the Darien Gap, the only interruption in the Pan-American Highway, was being used by migrant smugglers, usually to move people from Asia and Africa. Panama's Public Safety Minister Jose Murillo says that the movement of people from Asia and Africa has tapered off but that hundreds of Cubans are now taking the arduous Darien Gap route toward the United States. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)
In this July 3, 2012 photo, Cuban migrant Mayra Reyes, sitting fourth from right, gathers with other Cubans with whom she traveled as they rest at a shelter along with another group of migrants from Bangladesh, after being found by Panamanian border police in the Darien province in Meteti, Panama. Panamanian authorities began noticing five years ago that the Darien Gap, the only interruption in the Pan-American Highway, was being used by migrant smugglers, usually to move people from Asia and Africa. Panama's Public Safety Minister Jose Murillo says that the movement of people from Asia and Africa has tapered off but that hundreds of Cubans are now taking the arduous Darien Gap route toward the United States. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)
In this June 19, 2012 photo, a Panama border police officer walks with his rifle after taking a bath in the river near a police station in the Darien province on the border with Colombia, in Union Choco, Panama. Panamanian authorities began noticing five years ago that the Darien Gap, the only interruption in the Pan-American Highway, was being used by migrant smugglers, usually to move people from Asia and Africa. Panama's Public Safety Minister Jose Murillo says that the movement of people from Asia and Africa has tapered off but that hundreds of Cubans are now taking the arduous Darien Gap route toward the United States. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)
In this July 3, 2012 photo, migrants rest in a shelter after being found in the Darien province by Panama border police in Meteti, Panama. Panamanian authorities began noticing five years ago that the Darien Gap, the only interruption in the Pan-American Highway, was being used by migrant smugglers, usually to move people from Asia and Africa. Panama's Public Safety Minister Jose Murillo says that the movement of people from Asia and Africa has tapered off but that hundreds of Cubans are now taking the arduous Darien Gap route toward the United States. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)