PANAMA CITY — Over 300,000 migrants crossed the Darien Gap into Panama in 2024, 42% fewer than the record number who made the perilous jungle crossing from South America a year earlier, Panama’s migration authorities told Reuters on Thursday.

The dangerous Darien Gap connects Colombia with the Central American nation of Panama and increasing numbers of migrants were making the journey north to reach the United States.

Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino has taken a harder stance on…