The security forces of Panama and the Bravo Task Force of the Southern Command of the United States have been carrying out a “humanitarian exercise” since Saturday in Panamanian indigenous areas, including those located in the province of Darién, the natural border with Colombia that thousands of people cross. of migrants traveling irregularly to North America.

This is the Mercury IV Humanitarian Exercise, in its Phase III, which will take place until May 5 and will bring medicines and health care to areas of difficult access in the Ngäbe Buglé region, located in the north of Panama.

And the Mercury V Humanitarian Exercise, which will take place from May 2 to 12 in the province of Darién, on the southern border, will consist of the transfer of construction materials to make improvements to education and security infrastructures, and medical supplies for care for the health of the inhabitants of this province bordering Colombia.

This was indicated this Saturday by the Government of Panama through a statement, which specified that two helicopters from the Bravo Task Force (a Chinook and a Blackhawk) will be used in the operation in the Ngäbe Buglé region, and another type AW139 from the Panamanian National Aeronaval Service (Senan), for the transfer of personnel and cargo.

“According to the information provided by Commissioner Eliecer Cárdenas of Senan, an approximate 60,000 pounds (27,215 kilos) of cargo in medicines and medical personnel will be transferred to meet the health needs of indigenous communities. It is an inter-institutional work of the Government National with the collaboration of the United States Southern Command,” the statement said.

The humanitarian operation in the province of Darién will have “the support of seven helicopters from the Bravo Task Force of the United States Southern Command” with the objective of carrying out “the transfer of construction materials to make improvements to education infrastructures and security, and medical supplies to care for the health of the residents” of this region, added the official information.

More than 100,000 irregular migrants from countries around the world have crossed the Darien jungle from the south of the continent on their way to the United States, in an unprecedented migration crisis in the region.

Panama takes the biometric data of these travelers and offers them health care and food at stations located both in Darién and in the province of Chiriquí, on the border with Costa Rica, where there is also a presence of more than a dozen international organizations, from According to the official information.

Panama and the United States periodically carry out this type of humanitarian exercise. The most recent, Mercurio IV in its phase II, took place last January in the Ngäbe-Buglé region.