Visa rules in Mexico don’t stop Venezuelans headed to US

By MARÍA VERZA
Associated Press

MEXICO CITY (AP) — When Mexico imposed a visa requirement on Venezuelans in January, it briefly had the desired effect of plunging numbers of Venezuelans detained at the U.S.-Mexico border. But it’s now clear that it only pushed the migrants onto more dangerous clandestine routes. Suddenly unable to simply fly to Mexico as tourists, but still desperate to leave, Venezuelan migrants joined others traveling over land through the dense, lawless jungle of the Darien Gap on the Colombia-Panama border. In 2021, when Venezuelans could still fly to Cancun or Mexico City as tourists, only 3,000 of them crossed the Darien. According to Panama’s National Immigration Service, there have been 45,000 so far this year.