Panama, familiar with US intervention, bristles at Trump’s comments on canal

PANAMA CITY — President Donald Trump’s insistence Monday that he wants the Panama Canal back under U.S. control fed nationalist sentiment and worry in Panama, home to the critical trade route and a country familiar with U.S. military intervention. “American ships are being severely overcharged and not treated fairly in any way, shape or form, […]

Continue Reading

Panama marks Martyrs’ Day amid Trump threats to retake control of Panama Canal

PANAMA CITY — A Panamanian national holiday remembering the killing of 21 protesters by police and U.S. troops in 1964 is taking on new resonance this year as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatens to take back control of the Panama Canal. On Jan. 9, 1964, students protested in the then-U.S. controlled canal zone over not […]

Continue Reading

Eva Vergara, longtime AP Chile correspondent, dies at 68

Former AP correspondent in Chile, Eva Vergara, who covered stories including the first protests against the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet and revealed key information about abuses by members of the Catholic Church, died on Tuesday Chilean journalist Eva Vergara, who in her four decades at The Associated Press covered stories including the first protests […]

Continue Reading

Venezuelans crossing the Darien Gap say they lost hope after July’s election

LAJAS BLANCAS, Panama — Venezuelans trekking across the Darien Gap – a rugged jungle passage between Colombia and Panama – say they’re making the perilous journey because they lost hope for change after a contentious presidential election handed victory to President Nicolás Maduro despite vote tallies released by the opposition showing that his competitor won […]

Continue Reading

Migration through Darien Gap increased in September, led by Venezuelans after the election

PANAMA CITY, Panama — The number of migrants crossing the Darien Gap — a rugged jungle passage between Colombia and Panama — increased sharply in September, according to Panamanian government data, and a human rights organization says there’s less capacity to assist migrants. Venezuelans have led mass migration through the Darien since 2022, and make […]

Continue Reading