Panama's José Raúl Mulino Marks 100 Days in Office

In 2023, half a million migrants—an amount equivalent to 12 percent of Panama’s population—undertook the perilous journey through the Darien Gap, the rainforest that sits on the country’s border with Colombia. In his campaign, Mulino vowed, “We are going to close the Darien Gap, and we are going to repatriate all these people as appropriate, respecting human rights.”

He has spearheaded a regional approach to the problem, seeking support and cooperation from other governments. On September 25, during his first speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), he called Panama the “new border of the United States.”

On June 30, the day before his inauguration, Mulino met with United States Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas to discuss the crisis. The next day, the two countries signed an agreement in which the United States agreed to fund a flight program for Panama to repatriate migrants who enter the country illegally. Since the first flight on August 20, almost 500 migrants have been deported to Colombia, Ecuador, and India through the program. Although Venezuelans account for 66 percent of the migrants crossing the Darien Gap this year, no repatriation flights have departed to Venezuela, due to Panama suspending diplomatic relations with the country following the election fraud and the Maduro regime's suspension of flights to and from Panama. Panama was one of nine Latin American countries to release a joint statement rejecting the results of the July elections.

Mulino and his cabinet have also been working with the Colombian government. On August 26, Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha met with his Colombian counterpart Minister of Foreign Affairs Luis Gilberto Murillo and Secretary Mayorkas in Cartagena, where they agreed to strengthen Colombian and Panamanian state presence in the border. During the UNGA week in New York, Mulino met with Colombian President Gustavo Petro to discuss the possibility of building organized migration routes through the Darien Gap, controlled by both governments. During the first few weeks in office, Mulino’s government closed five identified migration paths in the Darien Gap and increased patrol on the Caribbean coast, which Petro criticized on X, saying the measure would cause drownings at sea. 

During 2024, almost 245,000 migrants had crossed the Darien forest as of September 9, a 31 percent decrease from almost 355,000 by that point last year.

In his first official interview with Panamanian media, four days after the elections, Mulino promised he would start his presidency with fixing the Caja de Seguro Social, the country’s social security fund. On September 12, the president announced that he would begin a dialogue with different sectors and unions to discuss reform proposals. 

The reform would tackle two main issues: financial solvency and quality of care. Within the fund, the subsystem of pensions dedicated to disability, old age, and death reached a deficit of $673.5 million at the end of 2023. Additionally, Mulino called the healthcare services provided by the Caja de Seguro Social “inhumane,” noting medicine shortages and a backlog of almost 20,000 surgeries.

He proposed creating a joint buying system between the Ministry of Health and the Caja de Seguro Social, which he hopes will provide health services to the population, guarantee supply and better prices of medicines and equipment, and decrease bureaucracy.

Mulino has said he will use the conversations with different sectors to inform a reform package he plans to present to the National Assembly in late October.

Another main point in Mulino’s agenda has been a push to get Panama off what he has deemed “discriminatory” lists. While Panama was removed from the Financial Action Task Force's “grey list” in October 2023 as a result of efforts to combat money laundering, the country remains included in the European Union’s “list of high-risk third countries.” 

On September 9, he announced his intention to launch an international campaign on the issue, saying, “The country that has us on these lists will not have the right to anything from Panama, neither to a vote in favor nor to contracts with the country, much less to important tenders. They are not going to be there, it's that easy.” He repeated this message during his UNGA speech. Panama will start a two-year term as a member of the UN Security Council next year.

Mulino is set to travel to Europe on October 19 to discuss this issue with leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron. 

Mulino’s stated goals of managing the public debt and reducing the country’s fiscal deficit are being carried out by Minister of Economy and Finance Felipe Chapman. Panama’s debt is over $50 billion, which roughly represents 64 percent of the country's GDP. About $23 billion of that was added during the five years of the previous government.

On October 4, Chapman presented the government’s 2025 budget to the Cabinet. On October 7, he presented the budget to the National Assembly. The $26 billion budget for 2025 would represent a 15 percent cut from the prior year’s budget. 

“It is the first time that a budget lower than that of the previous year is going to be presented,” Chapman said in a press conference. Areas such as education, health, and infrastructure investments would have budget increases, while many ministries, starting with his own, will have cuts.