Blinken and Mayorkas visit Panama Canal locks

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Panama on Tuesday for two days of talks with representatives of 20 Latin American countries to discuss migration issues in the region.The meeting precedes the Summit of the Americas to be held in Los Angeles next June.

It takes place after COVID-19 health restrictions were eased in the US, ending a policy which limited asylum grants at the US-Mexico border, known as Title 42.The number of detentions of migrants by US authorities has been rising since.More than 221,000 people were detained at the US southern border byCustoms and Border Protection (CBP) in March, an increase of 33% compared to the previous month.Panama has also seen a surge in the numbers of migrants crossing the jungle that stretches from its Colombian border.