Mathy Makanzo Toko, right, of the Dominican Republic of Congo sits on the side of the road with his family and other migrants as they take a break from walking in the Darién Province of Panama on Saturday, March 7, 2020. He left his home country due to political unrest and has been migrating for 7 years, living in Brazil for a few years and now continuing through Panama with the United States as his final destination. He is one of a growing number of extracontinental migrants traveling through Latin America. (Photo by Delia Johnson/Cronkite Borderland Project)

Desperate migrants from across the globe are increasingly braving Panama’s Darién Gap – considered the most dangerous jungle in the world. Most come from the Caribbean, Africa and Asia, starting in South America and traveling north, funneling through the gap in hopes of eventually reaching the United States by land.

Many die en route, and those who survive describe a nightmarish journey of robbery and assault, starvation, exposure, snake bites and drowning.

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Delia Johnson is a graduate student from the Cronkite School with a degree in journalism focued in visual story telling and a minor in studio art.