'We're flooded with trash': human tragedy unleashes environmental disaster as thousands attempt crossing to US

Isolated communities in the Darién Gap are sounding the alarm over polluted rivers and cultural erosion after a surge in migrants crossing their ancestral landsThe Darién Gap's isolation and formidable reputation has shielded the Indigenous communities who live there from the outside world for centuries. Spanish conquistadors died trying to settle in the sliver of dense, swampy rainforest connecting Colombia with Panama, and in recent decades only the most intrepid outsiders have undertaken the 60-mile (97km) trek as a test of their mettle.Now, however, with half a million people slogging through the rainforest on their way to the US each year, Darién's Indigenous groups say their ecosystem and way of life are under threat. Continue reading...