Mari Carmen Aponte, the new United States ambassador to Panama, arrived yesterday in the capital to fill a diplomatic vacuum that had persisted for four years, since the departure of her predecessor John Feeley (2018).

“After a long wait, I am finally in Panama,” the diplomat said at the airport. A few minutes before, she was received on the plane platform by Stewart Tuttle, head of the United States diplomatic mission in the country.

One of the first meetings that the diplomat will hold will be on the immigration issue. He will have an appointment with the country’s security forces and the Director of Migration, Samira Gozaine, to discuss irregular migration. An issue that worries Panama due to the high flow of irregular migrants who have crossed the Darien jungle bound for the United States. So far this year, more than 200,000 people have passed through the dangerous trail, a record number. However, thousands are stranded on the road, after the new US immigration regulations that require a visa for Venezuelans to enter that country. This has caused hundreds of them to still be on the streets of the capital asking for money to return to Venezuela.

In addition, the perspective with which irregular migration is analyzed has changed. Panama has reiterated that it is criminal organizations that are benefiting by dominating the routes through which migrants travel and extorting them.

The ambassador was pleased upon arrival in Panama. She indicated that the first thing she wants to do “is meet the Panamanians” and meet her Panamanian friends in the next few days to hug them.

He immediately added: “Panama is very important for the United States, I am here to underline and strengthen the relationship between both countries.”

Born in Puerto Rico (1946), Aponte has a long career as an official linked to the Democratic party.

There are other issues that Aponte has noted as part of his management. He advanced them during the hearing before the Senate, in which he achieved his confirmation in office: corruption, the efforts of the Panamanian government to get off the FATF list, organized crime and its infiltration in the institutions. The list is long and the time that will last in Panama will depend on the criteria of the president of that nation.

As a Puerto Rican, Aponte is familiar with the Latino culture. She served as the State Department’s Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs in the administration of President Barack Obama.

In January 2022, President Joe Biden nominated her for the position of ambassador to Panama, which has been vacant since 2018.

Her sister Tere has been a solid support for Mari Carmen. She thus made it known in front of the senators before the Foreign Relations Committee during her nomination hearing last May. At that time, she said she felt honored for being her second time serving her country as an ambassador; the first was in El Salvador (2010-2011).

Relations between Panama and the United States certainly have a long history that began with the country’s independence from Colombia to give way to the construction of the Canal by the Americans. The highway represents a strategic point, not only for the United States, but for the world, and the economic rivals of the Americans.