Podcast: Life and death in the Darién Gap

DARIEN GAP, COLOMBIA - OCTOBER 19: Immigrant families from Haiti climb a steep mountain trail near the border with Panama on the second day of their trek October 19, 2021 through the Darien Gap, Colombia. The 66-mile passage through dense rainforest and mountains is considered the most difficult stretch for migrants traveling from South America to the United States. Guides accompany them on the two-day trek to the border with Panama, after which they are on their own for an additional several day hike when they are most vulnerable to bandits and other hazards on the trail. More than 70,000 migrants have traveled through the Darien Gap this year, according to Panamanian authorities. Most of the migrants in recent months have been Haitians, many of whom had been living in Chile and Brazil since the 2010 Haitian earthquake. The Darien Gap, which connects North and South America, is where the Panamerican Highway was never completed due to severe terrain, high cost and myriad environmental concerns. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

To get to the U.S. border from South America, Haitians have to trek through an isolated stretch of jungle called the Darién Gap. In the latest episode of "Line in the Land," a podcast produced by the Houston Chronicle and Texas Public Media, Haitian migrants take listeners with them on a jungle journey like no other. Read the full transcript here.

Hosts: Joey Palacios and Elizabeth Trovall

More reading:

Lost in the deep of Darien

Crossing the Darién Gap

This remote sliver of northwest Colombia is one of the world’s busiest migration corridors

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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