President Donald Trump quietly signed a directive ordering the Pentagon to begin using military force against Latin American drug cartels that the administration has labeled as terrorist organizations, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/08/us/trump-military-drug-cartels.html?smtyp=cur&amp;smid=tw-nytimesworld">reported</a> Friday morning.
The order includes an official basis for the United States military to conduct anti-cartel operations in foreign countries, and military officials have already begun drafting plans for going after certain groups, the Times reported, citing &#8220;people familiar with the conversations.&#8221; It was not immediately clear which specific gangs or drug cartels Trump&#8217;s new directive greenlights military operations against.
Under Trump, the United States has <a href="https://www.state.gov/designation-of-international-cartels">designated</a> seven drug cartels and two international criminal gangs as foreign terrorist organizations: Tren de Aragua (TdA), Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), Cártel de Sinaloa, Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), Cártel del Noreste (CDN), La Nueva Familia Michoacana (LNFM), Cártel de Golfo (CDG), and Cárteles Unidos (CU). The Trump administration recently added the Venezuelan Cartel de los Soles to its list, saying that it is operated by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and other high-ranking government officials, according to the Times. On Thursday, the United States upped the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-hikes-bounty-on-venezuelas-maduro-to-50m">bounty</a> on Maduro to $50 million, pointing to his ties to transnational gangs and drug cartels.
&#8220;Maduro uses foreign terrorist organizations like TDA, Sinaloa, and Cartel of the Suns to bring deadly drugs and violence into our country. To date, the DEA has seized 30 tons of cocaine linked to Maduro and his associates with nearly seven tons linked to Maduro himself,&#8221; said Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Most of the cartels designated by the Trump administration as terrorist organizations operate in Mexico, while TdA&#8217;s roots are in Venezuela, and MS-13 originated in Los Angeles as a Salvadoran street gang. Both TdA and MS-13 also have cells operating in Central America, according to the State Department.
Trump&#8217;s order is among the most significant steps he has taken to fulfill his promise to &#8220;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCGjPpNG4xA">wage war</a>&#8221; on cartels that have trafficked fentanyl and other drugs into the United States, leading to the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans. In May, President Trump said he offered Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum a deal that would send U.S. troops into Mexico to fight drug cartels.
&#8220;They are horrible people that have been killing people left and right. They&#8217;ve made a fortune on selling drugs and destroying our people,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000010147246/trump-offers-us-military-to-fight-mexican-cartels.html">told</a> reporters aboard Air Force One. &#8220;If Mexico wanted help with the cartels, we would be honored to go in and do it.&#8221;
Sheinbaum <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/sheinbaum-says-she-rejected-trumps-offer-send-troops-mexico-2025-05-03/">rejected</a> Trump&#8217;s proposal, saying, &#8220;Sovereignty is not for sale. Sovereignty is loved and defended.&#8221;
&#8220;We will never accept the presence of the United States military in our territory,&#8221; she added.

Donald Trump

Trump Greenlights Military Force To Take Down Latin American Drug Cartels

Central America

Drug Cartels

Executive

Mexico

Military

MS-13

Politics

Tren De Aragua

U.S. Military

Venezuela

Secretary of State Marco Rubio made clear that when President Donald Trump speaks of America First, that means that the U.S. needs to prioritize problems closer to home.
In an <a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/an-americas-first-foreign-policy-secretary-of-state-rubio-writes-western-hemisphere-too-long-neglected-a81707b0?st=Ga7aQt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opinion piece</a> published in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Rubio said it was “no accident that my first trip abroad as secretary of state, to Central America on Friday, will keep me in the hemisphere. “
“This is rare among secretaries of state over the past century,” Rubio pointed out. “For many reasons, U.S. foreign policy has long focused on other regions while overlooking our own. As a result, we’ve let problems fester, missed opportunities and neglected partners. That ends now.”
Rubio spoke of Trump’s agenda emphasizing securing the nation’s borders and “reversing the disastrous invasion abetted by the last administration,” adding, “We need to work with countries of origin to halt and deter further migrant flows, and to accept the return of their citizens present in the U.S. illegally.”
“We see a prosperous region rife with opportunities,” he declared. “We can strengthen trade ties, create partnerships to control migration, and enhance our hemisphere’s security. El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic — the countries I will visit on this trip — all stand to benefit tremendously from greater cooperation with the U.S.&#8221;
“These nations were neglected by past administrations that prioritized the global over the local and pursued policies that accelerated China’s economic development, often at our neighbors’ expense,” he noted.
“Covid exposed the fragility of America’s dependence on far-flung supply chains,” he recalled. “Relocating our critical supply chains to the Western Hemisphere would clear a path for our neighbors’ economic growth and safeguard Americans’ own economic security. &#8230; As our regional partners build themselves up, they can more easily resist countries such as China that promise much but deliver little.”
Speaking of mass migration to the United States and the ever-present danger of drug cartels, he continued, “Illegitimate regimes in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela are intentionally amplifying the chaos. All the while, the Chinese Communist Party uses diplomatic and economic leverage — such as at the Panama Canal —t o oppose the U.S. and turn sovereign nations into vassal states.”
“I am confident that the countries I will soon visit will be ready partners,” he asserted. “Like President Trump, their leaders are pragmatists who put their citizens first. And because they are pragmatists, they also know that there is much more to be gained from working with the U.S. than not.”
“The threats Mr. Trump was elected to stop are threats to the nations of our hemisphere as well,” he stated. “We share a common home. The safer, stronger and more prosperous that home becomes, the more all our nations stand to benefit. Together, there are few limits to what we can accomplish.”

Marco Rubio Sworn In As US Secretary Of State

Rubio Makes Clear Trump’s Foreign Policy Prioritizes Issues Close To Home

America First

General

Marco Rubio

Secretary of State

South America

AUSTIN, Texas – The large, organized constellation of United Nations and nongovernmental organization (NGO) agencies sees a rosy future for itself even under Donald Trump, having already directed billions of mostly U.S. taxpayer dollars into supporting millions of illegal southern border crossing trips during President Joe Biden’s term.
Perhaps, in part, to keep the migratory pressure on America’s southern border, using U.S. taxpayer money, as Trump mounts a planned border crackdown this year.
The U.N.-organized conglomerate recently released its 2025-2026 “<a href="https://www.r4v.info/en/rmrp2025-2026" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Regional Refugee and Migrant Response Plan (RMRP)</a>,” which is a budget needs analysis for Latin America migration support developed during the U.S. presidential campaign but recognizes in its published iteration that Trump was re-elected.
<div id="attachment_858393" style="width: 366px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-858393" class="wp-image-858393 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/woman-and-child.png" alt="Credit: r4v.info/en" width="356" height="512" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/woman-and-child.png 356w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/woman-and-child-209x300.png 209w" sizes=" (max-width: 356px) 100vw, 356px" />Credit: r4v.info/en</div>
The document calls for maintaining spending levels as high as when a mass migration torrent was at full throttle in recent years. It wants $1.4 billion to support 2.3 million foreign nationals from throughout the world who will be on the move toward the U.S. southern border through 17 Latin American countries, and $1.2 billion in 2026. That’s down from 2024’s $1.6 billion and <a href="https://cis.org/Bensman/United-Nations-Hand-Out-Hundreds-Millions-Cash-USBound-Immigrants-2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2023’s $1.72 billion</a>.
The 14 U.N. and 230 NGO agencies (<a href="https://www.r4v.info/en/rmrp2025-2026" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a list of these agencies can be found on page 434</a>) will use the funding in 2025 to support 14 different forms of migration or refugee assistance in the hemisphere, including, for instance, $259 million in “cash, voucher assistance and multi-purpose cash assistance” to 390,000 foreign nationals during 2025. That money will be dished out as <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2022-11/FY_2021_MPCA_Sector_Update_1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rechargeable cash debit cards</a>, “<a href="https://emergencymanual.iom.int/cash-based-interventions-cbi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cash in envelopes</a>,” bank transfers, and mobile transfers for whatever migrants might need on the road.
They also call for $134 million in food provisions for 851,600 people, $13.5 million in “humanitarian transportation” to 94,800 foreign nationals, $297 million to 735,000 people for shelter such as hotels and longer-term rental properties, $150 million in health services to 1.4 million people, and millions more for a half dozen other kinds of migration needs on the trails.
<div id="attachment_858405" style="width: 306px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-858405" class="wp-image-858405 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/card-image.jpg" alt="Credit: Todd Bensman" width="296" height="394" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/card-image.jpg 296w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/card-image-225x300.jpg 225w" sizes=" (max-width: 296px) 100vw, 296px" />Credit: Todd Bensman</div>
Spearheaded in 2019 by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the U.N. International Organization for Migration (IOM), which receive the bulk of their money from the United States, the coordinated RMRP migration support effort initially started to meet the needs of more than seven million Venezuelans who emigrated out of their failing home country. But RMRP planning documents openly acknowledge mission creep to support migrants of all “other nationalities…engaging in transit and onward movements” to the U.S. southern border. In 2023, the U.S. contributed $1.9 billion to the UNHCR, compared to a mere <a href="https://reporting.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/Flexible-Funding-in-2019.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$377 million in 2019</a>. 
<div id="attachment_858409" style="width: 522px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-858409" class="wp-image-858409 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/scale-it-money.png" alt="Credit: r4v.info/en, page 15" width="512" height="90" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/scale-it-money.png 512w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/scale-it-money-300x53.png 300w" sizes=" (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" />Credit: r4v.info/en</div>
The new document notes Trump’s reelection but does not explicitly discuss its 2025-2026 needs in conjunction with Trump’s plans to immediately halt more than three years of an illegal immigration border surge that The New York Times<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/11/briefing/us-immigration-surge.html"> recently concluded in an analysis</a> was the “largest in U.S. history” and was directly caused by “President Biden’s welcoming immigration policy during his first three years in office.”
The group’s chief U.N. bureaucrat makes an oblique reference to a new negativity in “receiving nations” without naming the United States.
“It is essential to change the narrative that underscores the prevalent negative conception of migration agendas as only a source of problems and difficulties and keep striving for bringing to the fore the positive narrative of the contributions they can provide to receiving communities,” wrote Eduardo Stein, the UN’s Joint Special Representative for Venezuelan Refugees and Migrants in the document’s introduction. 
Left unsaid is exactly how the U.N. and NGOs proposing these large ongoing expenditures really view them in light of the anticipated <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-trump-effect-2-0-illegal-border-crossings-set-to-plummet-on-one-condition">reduction in migration flows</a> expected after Trump’s January 20, 2025 inauguration, when his &#8220;detain-and-expel&#8221; policies quickly replace Biden’s incentivizing catch-and-release policies.
Already, just the prospect of a Trump administration has vastly reduced international migration flows <a href="https://www.latintimes.com/migrant-flow-through-darien-gap-drops-40-panama-closes-trails-wired-fences-570442" target="_blank" rel="noopener">by more than 40 percent</a> through the Colombia-Panama Darien Gap, while many immigrants in Mexico say <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14175103/mexico-migrant-crisis-trump-biden-todd-bensman.html">they’ll return to their home countries</a>.
The omission of straightforward references to the coming U.S. political pivot on illegal immigration suggests that the group likely assumes funding would be used to sustain migrants while Trump policies compel them to wait in third countries, perhaps waiting for – or even facilitating – Trump policy failure or for a future friendlier U.S. presidency.
<div id="attachment_858425" style="width: 943px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-858425" class="size-large wp-image-858425" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2149448157-933x576.jpg" alt="TOPSHOT - Migrant people of different nationalities seeking asylum in the United States travel on freight cars of the Mexican train known as &quot;The Beast&quot; as they arrive at the border city of Ciudad Juarez, in Chihuahua state, Mexico on April 24, 2024. (Photo by Herika Martinez / AFP) (Photo by HERIKA MARTINEZ/AFP via Getty Images)" width="933" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2149448157-933x576.jpg 933w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2149448157-300x185.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2149448157-768x474.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2149448157.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 933px) 100vw, 933px" />HERIKA MARTINEZ/AFP via Getty Images</div>
Regardless of U.N. intent, in the meantime, a potential – even probable – consequence of this continuing level of migration trail support would be to sustain steady pressure on Trump’s border for at least the next two years, perhaps even enough to induce policy failure.
The document seems to suggest some money might fund legal and propaganda operations.
For instance, one activity the group promotes as a high priority is to provide $204 million toward “protection,” topping the list is “legal assistance and counseling” that can counter a regional “shift towards more restrictive and security-focused approaches of managing migration and asylum…,” the document notes on page 77 in a category section titled “Protection.”
The legal assistance and counseling will, it says, reduce risks related to migrant returns to home countries that their advocates would argue were too dangerous, known as “refoulment,” as well as “deportations, and arbitrary and prolonged detentions.” The group will call on academics and human rights organizations in migration trail nations “to ensure visibility of key protection issues affecting refugees and migrants in the region.” Those might include countries the Trump administration plans to diplomatically coerce into helping slow flows.
<h3>A Point Of Contention And Potential Republican Action</h3>
In recent years, the UN-led conglomerate’s migration support efforts along the migration trails have become politically controversial because of the record-smashing traffic flows, especially among Trump supporters and some hardline border security-minded Republican lawmakers. Some saw the U.S. tax money funding the program as driving a self-destructive mass migration crisis that broadly damaged American national interests and advocated that U.S. money for that be pared back.
Republican lawmakers such as Texas Rep. Lance Gooden even <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/6155" target="_blank" rel="noopener">filed a bill to defund the U.N. of U.S. donations</a>, which did not advance when congressional chambers were split between Republicans and Democrats.
<div id="attachment_858413" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-858413" class="size-large wp-image-858413" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-1743011003-864x576.jpg" alt="Representative Lance Gooden, a Republican from Texas, speaks to members of the media outside of a House Republican caucus meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. Representative Tom Emmer dropped his bid for House speaker Tuesday after criticism from Donald Trump, becoming the third GOP nominee for the leadership post to be dragged down by seething divisions within the party. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-1743011003-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-1743011003-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-1743011003-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-1743011003.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Representative Lance Gooden. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images</div>
But with the trifecta of a White House and both chambers of Congress in Republican hands as of January 20, the prospects for some kind of funding rollback for this kind of U.N. and NGO support seem more likely. Rep. Gooden told The Daily Wire he would try again under the more favorable new circumstances.
“Under the Biden administration, U.S. dollars are being funneled through the United Nation’s IOM into programs that facilitate and encourage illegal migration into our own country,” Rep. Gooden told The Daily Wire for this report. “I will work with President Trump to ensure that no one cent of American money supports the erosion of our sovereignty. We will end this taxpayer funded invasion.”
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Dr. Nayla Rush, Senior Researcher at the Center for Immigration and a refugee policy expert, noted that the IOM and UNHCR mission is to assist migrants and refugees in need wherever they are. But as their top funder, the United States has a right to ensure neither organization is encouraging or guiding migrants to illegally enter the United States or submit false asylum claims.
&#8220;The U.S. government should ask for complete transparency and accountability as to where and how both organizations spend US taxpayer money.&#8221;
<h3>Creating Migration Pressure On Trump Or Reducing Suffering?</h3>
In early 2022, UNHCR spokeswoman for Mexico <a href="https://cis.org/Bensman/Mexicos-Deep-South-United-Nations-Explains-Handing-Cash-USBound-Migrants" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Silvia Garduno explained</a> that her agency does not look for or consider evidence of illegal immigration but, rather, regards individuals it helps who are moving through as “vulnerable asylum seekers.”
“UNHCR assistance is based strictly on the humanitarian need of individuals in need of international protection,” she said. “UNHRC supports the authorities by providing individuals information on the right to seek asylum and assists individuals while their asylum applications are in process by, for example, referring them to shelters operated by civil society, providing legal assistance, or providing humanitarian support for food and basic needs for the most vulnerable.
<div id="attachment_816347" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-816347" class="size-large wp-image-816347" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/Untitled-design-43-1024x576.jpg" alt="A migrant caravan walks into the interior of Mexico after crossing the Guatemalan border on October 21, 2018 near Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico The caravan of Central Americans plans to eventually reach the United States." width="1024" height="576" />(Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)</div>
But the group’s own document repeatedly acknowledges knowing that those it helps are moving ever forward over international borders without authorization.
The group is clearly not planning any retreat.
When it started operations in 2019, the conglomerate provided its aid via a network of ad hoc way-stations along known <a href="https://cis.org/Video/Cartels-UN-and-NGOs-Fuel-US-Border-Crisis">smuggling routes</a> from South America to the northern U.S.-Mexico border.
In recent years, however, the U.N. group has plowed investment funds into large multi-purpose structures like a <a href="https://cis.org/Bensman/OneStop-Shop-Illegal-Migration">75,000-square-foot mega-mall</a> just built in Tapachula, Mexico just north of the Guatemala border.
The UNHCR, IOM, and dozens of private often religion-based NGOs scattered around Tapachula, will work alongside one another under one massive roof here – evidently planning a years-long collaboration.
* * *
Todd Bensman is a Senior National Security Fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies and a two-time <a href="https://www.toddbensman.com/awards/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Press Club award winner.</a> He is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and a 23-year veteran newspaper reporter. He is the author of “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Americas-Covert-Border-War-Infiltration/dp/1642937258/ref=sr_1_2?crid=BP7S7BH2VBFB&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.O6ZnUZYfSlVsoiHcdjPhFHfMHLUTDwW2ZnKSAJboBbE5kdYf_h7sD08-h6YkTqOaoX3BwNswbUMPbnTbwQYA0OPgQiI3nLoLjosQWsEhFf5KFAPB4F0DTwUsSoJFgmaEF7V1rMQnOPvLvOLapFQ1ESD-D7UVwCNHsSGEs2XzEa9rmO1CLoVV277SrmlPOkJf.15UkCaAoqCyd7hpP16dl7D3_ZWawrd1RcN3D_ZSFo4w&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=todd+bensman&amp;qid=1730314546&amp;s=books&amp;sprefix=todd+bensman%2Cstripbooks%2C100&amp;sr=1-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">America’s Covert Border War</a>,” and “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Overrun-Unleashed-Greatest-Border-History-ebook/dp/B0BS1R9LCP?ref_=ast_author_dp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Overrun: How Joe Biden Unleashed the Greatest Border Crisis in U.S. History</a>.”
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
This article has been edited for clarity.

Pandemic Era Border Policy Title 42 Expires

As Trump 2.0 Approaches, NGOs Continue To Fund Mass Migration With U.S. Tax Dollars

Border Crisis

Darien Gap

Illegal Immigration

Panama

Southern Border

Taxes

Texas

United Nations

Welfare

METETI, Panama – The 19,000-strong indigenous Embera-Wounaan tribe resides far beyond the reach of American pollsters who regularly log high voter disapproval of the three-plus years of illegal mass migration over the Southwest U.S. Border.
But if anyone ever sought Embera opinion about distant U.S. border policy – and, almost incredibly, I may be the only one who ever has – they’d get an ear full. 
The Embera live on reservation lands right at the trail exits in Panama’s infamous Darién Gap migration foot passage that in just three or so years have emptied nearly two million stampeding US-bound immigrants moving out of Colombia for eventual illegal crossings of the opened U.S. border. And while their vote of course wouldn’t count in the United States presidential election, in these modern times, indigenous tribal cries to the heavens that imperial U.S. decisions are destroying them without thought should qualify as special moral standing requiring authentic listening.
As I finally heard them during a first-ever interview with all five Embera tribal chiefs and <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/08/26/opinion/biden-harris-open-border-is-destroying-an-indigenous-tribes-land-and-way-of-life/">aired them in the New York Post</a>, they demand that U.S. border policies that set off this vast destructive great migration through their “Comarca” lands, never asking permission nor begging forgiveness, be ended. They also want the United States to help immediately close the Darién Gap at the Panama-Colombia border for the sake of their cultural survival.
<div id="attachment_788823" style="width: 634px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-788823" class="wp-image-788823 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/Embera-chiefs.jpeg" alt="Embera tribal chiefs. Credit: Todd Bensman" width="624" height="491" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/Embera-chiefs.jpeg 624w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/Embera-chiefs-300x236.jpeg 300w" sizes=" (max-width: 624px) 100vw, 624px" />Embera tribal chiefs. Credit: Todd Bensman</div>
“Mr. President and you candidates, you are finishing us off, and you are killing all the Indians on the Comarca!” General Chief Leonide Cunampia said. “You have to pay attention to what’s going on in our territory. The immigration is contaminating us!”
The chiefs, including Jose Anilo Barringon, Cirilo Pena, Vianide Cunapa, and Pablo Guainora, described a long litany of environmental poisonings of their village water supplies, harvest theft, and especially of corrupting access to immigrant currency that has diverted an entire generation of Embera youth from their own rich culture to drugs and alcohol. They reserve special ire for the United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that have set up shop all over their reservation with “zero” permission to lure, aid and abet the mass migration. For the millions in cash the United States directs their way.
<div id="attachment_788829" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-788829" class="wp-image-788829 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/3IMG_0713-1024x536.jpg" alt="Embera earning cash running immigrants out of the Darien Gap. Leaders say the money has led the younger generation astray into drugs and alcohol. Credit: Todd Bensman" width="1024" height="536" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/3IMG_0713-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/3IMG_0713-300x157.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/3IMG_0713-768x402.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/3IMG_0713.jpg 1274w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Embera earning cash running immigrants out of the Darien Gap. Leaders say the money has led the younger generation astray into drugs and alcohol. Credit: Todd Bensman</div>
Much more must be said about all of this. The unheard cries of the Embera serve as a wake-up call that U.S. policy, enacted without sufficient thoughtfulness, often portends destructive consequences far away. The United States is ever the elephant, all too often stamping mice it never saw, thought of, or cared about, especially if no one else did either. 
All the above appears to have been the case since the Biden-Harris administration’s opening days in 2021, when it decided to reverse Donald Trump’s impactful deterrence policies and instead release into the United States vast numbers of illegal border crossers with pinky finger honor system shakes that they’d self-report someday to an ICE office in the city of settlement choice. Once the world caught on that the Americans were really, truly doing this crazy thing on a massive scale, the relative trickle of less than 10,000 foreign nationals a year crossing through the Darién Gap before 2021, flooded the Embera zone to 250,000 in 2022 and 550,000 in 2023 with a similar number projected for 2024.
The time is well beyond nigh that the United States hear the Embera cries for help and stop stomping on them. It shouldn’t matter that they don’t vote in American elections; change is warranted enough by deference to the terrible history of U.S. elephant stomping of indigenous tribes that looks just like this latest instance of it. 
<div id="attachment_788839" style="width: 804px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-788839" class="size-large wp-image-788839" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/IMG_0686-794x576.jpg" alt="Regional Embera Chief Pablo Guainora. Credit: Todd Bensman." width="794" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/IMG_0686-794x576.jpg 794w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/IMG_0686-300x218.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/IMG_0686-768x557.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/IMG_0686-1536x1115.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/IMG_0686.jpg 1769w" sizes=" (max-width: 794px) 100vw, 794px" />Regional Embera Chief Pablo Guainora. Credit: Todd Bensman.</div>
What struck me most listening to the five Embera chiefs is how much their concerns reminded me of when U.S. policy allowed gold miners, settlers, and the U.S. cavalry to push aside and destroy Native American tribes during the 19th Century.
American and international liberal UN and NGO groups are clearly repeating that same terrible old history with the Embera, prioritizing the interests of foreign national &#8220;settlers&#8221; over the interests of Native tribes in this new &#8220;gold rush&#8221; to the U.S. border.
What stood out as especially ironic in this Darién Gap situation is that, since the bad old 19th Century days of developing the American West, all sorts of <a href="https://www.humanrightscareers.com/issues/indigenous-human-rights-organizations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">indigenous-protection human rights groups</a> step up long before alarm bells like this one are already sounding. But for the Embera, none have reached out even once, the chiefs say.
Why the hell not? I believe it’s because they won’t cross their politically ideological allies doing immigration advocacy work in Panama for hundreds of millions of dollars. When it comes to money, one liberal cause can win out at the expense of other traditionally liberal causes that don’t pay as much.
One would think that the liberal progressives who staff the UN and NGOs down there would occupy a higher moral plane than Gen. George Armstrong Custer or President Andrew Jackson during their days of doling out pain to indigenous peoples. But economic migrants rushing toward U.S. gold clearly are too profitable.
The perfect opportunity to save the Embera has just availed itself too, in the form of a new Panamanian president – Jose Raul Mulino – who took office July 1 promising to “close the Darién Gap” for the first time and begging the U.S. government to pick up the tab for enough deterring air deportations.
But alas, the Biden administration’s commitment <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/08/15/opinion/biden-harris-made-empty-promises-to-stop-migrants-in-panama-but-flood-continues/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has proven tepid</a>, to say the least, having spent the last three years pouring cash into the UN and NGOs who have transitioned the Darién Gap from country lane to superhighway with their so-called “safe, humane, and orderly” smuggling.
<div id="attachment_788853" style="width: 376px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-788853" class="size-large wp-image-788853" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/embera-couple-366x576.jpg" alt="Embera couple in traditional dress. Credit: Embera tribe." width="366" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/embera-couple-366x576.jpg 366w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/embera-couple-191x300.jpg 191w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/08/embera-couple.jpg 503w" sizes=" (max-width: 366px) 100vw, 366px" />Embera couple in traditional dress. Credit: Embera tribe.</div>
A Harris or Trump administration could quadruple down on investments to help the new Panamanian government actually deter these vast numbers pouring through the Embera Comarca.
But like the gold miners who invaded the Black Hills of Dakota Territory in the 1870s, the lure of profit for everyone but the natives is just too irresistible for anyone to care about the little tribe in Panama.
* * *
Todd Bensman is a Senior National Security Fellow, Center for Immigration Studies and a two-time <a href="https://www.toddbensman.com/awards/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Press Club award winner.</a> He is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and a 23-year veteran newspaper reporter.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Embera-chiefs

Biden-Harris Mass Migration Is ‘Killing All The Indians’ In Panama

Biden-Harris Mass Migration Is 'Killing All The Indians' In Panama

Biden Administration

Kamala Harris

Daily Wire Editor Emeritus <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ben-shapiro" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ben Shapiro</a> said that leftist governments in Latin America will eventually crash into the “rocks of reality” as their socialist policies wreck their countries, in the latest episode of his YouTube show <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/you-should-be-worried-about-the-pink-wave" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Facts.”</a>
In the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpSfP_Xm708" target="_blank" rel="noopener">episode</a>, Shapiro pointed to the “wonderful” election of Right-leaning libertarian Javier Milei in Argentina as a sign that the leftist governments that had risen to power throughout the region during so-called Pink Waves were faltering.
“That Pink Wave isn’t an iron wall, as it was with Soviet-occupied Eastern Europe – it is popularly elected Leftist governments in South and Latin America that have increasingly pursued not only economic redistributionism and nationalism of industry, but outright tyranny and anti-Americanism,” Shapiro explained. 
Shapiro pointed out how the American press often talked of the danger of authoritarianism abroad while ignoring the threat of socialism, which has taken hold of many Latin American countries.
Throughout the rest of the episode, Shapiro explained the history of the first and second Pink Wave in Latin America and how it was propelled forward by the Sao Paolo Forum, a conference of leftist parties in the region that was founded in the 1990s to rebrand socialism and communism after the Soviet Union collapsed.
The first Pink Wave took place after the Cold War with leaders like Hugo Chavez taking power in Venezuela and Lula da Silva being elected in Brazil in 2003. This wave later floundered in the years following the Great Recession in 2008. However, after 2018, leftist parties again began to take back power in countries like Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Honduras, and Chile.
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The consequences of leftist rule in these countries have been disastrous, Shapiro said. For example, countries like Venezuela and Argentina have faced rampant inflation, while corruption constantly plagues countries like Mexico and Bolivia.
“The pink tide that has risen, receded, and risen again will ultimately crash against the rocks of reality as it has in the past. Corruption and lack of rule of law create the preconditions for dissatisfaction with any government, but Left-wing governments in Latin and South America have channeled that dissatisfaction into anti-democratic centralization of power and impoverishment of their own citizenry,” Shapiro concluded, saying that he hoped that Milei’s election was only the beginning of a shift away from Left-wing politics in the region.
WATCH:
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Facts Intro Still

Ben Shapiro Predicts Leftist Governments In Latin America Will Crash Into ‘Rocks Of Reality’

Argentina

Global Politics

Javier Milei

Socialism

World

Vice President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/kamala-harris" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kamala Harris</a> has helped companies direct investments outside the United States and into the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">economy</a> of <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/central-america" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Central America</a> in a move that the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Biden administration</a> claims will decrease record levels of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/illegal-immigration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">illegal immigration</a>.
Harris, who serves as the administration’s border czar, has frequently argued that the federal approach to border security should center upon addressing economic instability, climate change, and other “root causes” that purportedly lead to illegal immigration. She has galvanized a combined $4.2 billion in “private sector commitments to create economic opportunity in northern Central America,” according to a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/02/06/fact-sheet-vice-president-harris-launches-next-phase-of-public-private-partnership-for-northern-central-america/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fact sheet</a> from the White House.
The federal government’s Central America Forward framework created a new Northern Central America Investment Facilitation Team which will “support clean energy infrastructure development, facilitate private sector operations, and promote sustainable economic development in the region.” USAID will sponsor workforce development programs, while the newly formed Central America Service Corps will engage young people in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras with “paid community service opportunities.”
Central America Forward aims to provide one million jobs in the region, as well as heighten access to the financial system, create a $75 million debt fund for small businesses, and facilitate $500 million in infrastructure deals. Federation for American Immigration Reform Head of Government Relations RJ Hauman said in a statement provided to The Daily Wire that “none of these investments serve as a deterrent for illegal immigration to the United States.”
“If the Biden administration wanted to truly end the crisis, they should start from the ground up at relevant agencies, not in corporate boardrooms,” he commented. “Sign asylum cooperative agreements, reform our asylum system, empower officers to enforce federal immigration law, and send the message to economic migrants and human smugglers that asylum fraud is not a pathway to get into the United States.”
As many as 5.5 million migrants have crossed into the United States under the Biden administration, according to <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fair-analysis-5-5-million-illegal-aliens-have-crossed-our-borders-since-biden-took-officehow-is-secretary-mayorkas-still-employed-301658734.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> from the Federation for American Immigration Reform. Some 113 known or suspected terrorists crossed the border in fiscal year 2021 and fiscal year 2022, while migrant deaths surpassed 856 in fiscal year 2022, marking the deadliest period on record. Critics of the Biden administration’s immigration policies have asserted that lackluster emphasis on securing the border and increased resources for migrants who enter the country have worsened the illegal immigration crisis.
The efforts to spur investments outside of the United States come several months after the Biden administration <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-commits-to-fighting-food-shortages-in-latin-america" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> funds for food security and humanitarian aid for Latin American nations. The aid package amounted to $645 million and included support for “refugee and migrant populations,” as well as cooperative efforts on “climate smart economic reform.”
“This contribution will complement the United States’ existing commitment to providing life-saving humanitarian assistance, responding to acute food insecurity, and advancing capacity-building activities that bolster disaster preparedness and response” across Latin America and the Caribbean, a White House <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/06/09/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-commitments-to-advance-food-security-in-the-western-hemisphere/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> said.
The move nevertheless occurred as inflation in the United States reached record levels. Food prices were increasing 9.1% year-over-year at the time, according to <a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2022/prices-for-food-at-home-up-13-5-percent-for-year-ended-august-2022.htm'" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with prices for meat rising 11.7% and prices for dairy rising 13.5%.

VP Harris Helping Funnel Money To Central America To Slow Illegal Immigration

VP Harris Funnels Money Into Central American Job Creation In Effort To Slow Illegal Immigration

Economy

As soaring food and fuel <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/inflation">prices</a> rock <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/central-america">Panama</a>, nationwide protests have disrupted traffic on major roads and left a weakened government scrambling for credibility — prompting <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/socialism">left-wing</a> activists to take advantage of the situation.
The demonstrations, launched early in July beginning with teachers’ and construction workers’ unions, have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/protests-spread-to-panama-as-inflation-gas-prices-strangle-developing-world">blocked critical infrastructure</a> such as the Pan-American Highway. The Panamanian government, which has argued that the high prices are attributable to COVID and the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/russia">Russian</a> invasion of <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/ukraine">Ukraine</a>, announced on Monday that it would work to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/panama-regulate-prices-72-food-items-ease-rising-living-costs-2022-07-25/">reduce the cost</a> of several dozen food items.
“The economy has been struggling here just like around the world, but Panamanians live very much day-to-day,” Jon Fowler, an American missionary working in Panama, told The Daily Wire. “There has been a history of Panama being fairly stable economically and with the government. They had very severe lockdowns, so the economy had already been weakened … but then you had on top of that these prices.”
Consumer prices in Panama, where mask mandates enacted in March 2020 were lifted earlier this month, are expected to end 2022 at 4.0% according to <a href="https://www.focus-economics.com/countries/panama/news/inflation/inflation-comes-in-at-highest-level-since-february-2013-in-may#:~:text=Our%20panelists%20project%20that%20inflation,inflation%20ending%202023%20at%202.3%25.">data</a> from the forecasting group Focus Economics.
“It’s hard to get groceries because production is down,” Fowler added. “They’re throwing tomatoes away because things are going bad. People can’t get things because things can’t get to the stores, because protests are happening.”
The protests in Panama follow a collapse of the government in Sri Lanka, which occurred as residents grew <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-mob-storms-presidential-palace-swims-in-pool-as-asian-nation-teeters-on-brink-of-collapse">frustrated</a> over food and fuel prices — thereby exacerbating religious tensions between the majority Buddhists and minority Tamils. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigned his post and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sri-lankas-president-flees-the-country-amid-mass-uprising">fled</a> the South Asian country on a military jet as protesters occupied the Presidential Palace.
While some protesters are merely grieved by the higher costs of living, others seek a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/is-panama-next-for-a-hard-left-turn-war-games-venazuela-russia-china-iran-drones-special-operation-military-exercise-11658680168">reorganization of the government</a> amid nonexistent public trust in Panamanian political leadership. The construction union activists leading the protests have demonstrated support in the past for Nicolás Maduro, the socialist dictator of nearby Venezuela, and circulated footage of wealthy Panamanian elites <a href="https://www.ecotvpanama.com/politica/diputados-oficialistas-celebraron-inicio-periodo-legislativo-plena-contencion-gastos-n5733466">drinking whiskey</a> amid the nation’s troubles.
&#8220;You’ve got some who are saying ‘We need lower prices on gas and food,’ and others who are saying ‘We need to rewrite the constitution.’ These are two different ideas, two different directions,” Fowler observed. “Hard-left extremists are trying to topple things — they’re trying to take advantage of the weak leadership.”
In any case, a socialistic mindset already prevails among the population.
&#8220;On paper, they’re the Republic of Panama. Written into the constitution is a mindset of socialism, though. The people have the expectation that the government is responsible for taking care of them when they’re in trouble,” Fowler remarked. “The president that they elected made promises to them to take care of them when they were in need, to distribute wealth… and when it’s the hour of need, he is nowhere to be found.”
Panama, however, is among the most important nations for international trade in the western hemisphere. The Panama Canal handled more than 255 million long tons of cargo and processed more than 12,000 transits in fiscal year 2020, according to <a href="https://logistics.gatech.pa/en/assets/panama-canal/statistics">data</a> from Georgia Tech Panama, with commodities such as grains, crude oil, and coal among the most heavily transported materials.

Panama city

‘Hard-Left Extremists Are Trying To Topple Things’: Protests Rock Panama Amid Food And Fuel Inflation

Panama Protests Contain Strong Left-Wing Revolutionary Element

Inflation

Widespread protests have gripped <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/central-america">Panama</a> for weeks as residents grow frustrated over high <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/gas-prices">gas prices</a> and rising <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/inflation">inflation</a>.
Protesters — organized by teachers&#8217; and construction workers&#8217; unions, among other activists — have blocked the nation’s capital, Panama City, as well as other cities and the Pan-American Highway, according to the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-caribbean-prices-panama-2f9cefd05950947747331384b4f35d27?taid=62ce005036d8fb0001cf7a79&amp;utm_campaign=TrueAnthem&amp;utm_medium=AP&amp;utm_source=Twitter">Associated Press</a>. Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo has stated that he understands citizens’ concerns and pinned the high prices on COVID and the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/russia">Russian</a> invasion of <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/ukraine">Ukraine</a>.
The nation’s top Roman Catholic clergyman, Jose Domingo Ulloa, moderated talks between protest leaders and government officials last week. Ahead of the talks, Cortizo agreed to freeze the price of gas and a handful of basic goods, as well as devote $150 million to subsidizing fuel expenses. “Together we can find viable and feasible solutions to the problems affecting our society,” the government of Panama said in a statement, per <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-13/panama-government-to-meet-anti-inflation-protesters-for-talks#xj4y7vzkg">Bloomberg</a>.
Consumer prices in Panama are expected to rise by 3.1% in 2022, according to <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/Countries/PAN#ataglance">data</a> from the International Monetary Fund. Fuel costs were capped at $3.95 per gallon last week after eight consecutive days of protests, per the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-62120055">BBC</a>.
Panama, which uses a currency pegged to the dollar, derives much of its economic output from service industries and agribusiness. The U.S. Embassy in Panama <a href="https://pa.usembassy.gov/situational-awareness-on-recent-protest-activity/">advised</a> Americans to “exercise caution near any large gatherings or protests and maintain situational awareness,” noting that national police have been known to use tear gas and riot control munitions to disperse crowds.
News of the protests in Panama follows a collapse of the government in Sri Lanka, which occurred as residents grew <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-mob-storms-presidential-palace-swims-in-pool-as-asian-nation-teeters-on-brink-of-collapse">frustrated</a> over food and fuel prices — thereby exacerbating tensions between majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigned his post and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sri-lankas-president-flees-the-country-amid-mass-uprising">fled</a> the South Asian country on a military jet as protesters occupied the Presidential Palace.
Global oil prices have indeed spiked since the beginning of the Ukraine invasion on February 24. As of Monday morning, Brent Crude has <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/@LCO.1">surged</a> from roughly $99 to nearly $106, while West Texas International crude <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/@CL.1">increased</a> from under $93 to almost $102 over the same time frame. Prices for regular unleaded gas reached $4.52 in the United States on Monday, according to <a href="https://gasprices.aaa.com/">AAA</a>, with Europe facing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/europes-gas-prices-are-even-higher-than-americas">even higher prices</a>.
Russia and Ukraine produce a combined 30% of the world’s traded wheat, according to the <a href="https://www.foodsecurityportal.org/node/1921">International Food Policy Research Institute</a>, leading to a rise in worldwide food prices. Roughly half of African wheat imports come from Russia and Ukraine, with some nations importing “more than one-third of their wheat from the two countries,” according to a <a href="https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/osginf2022d1_en.pdf">United Nations</a> report released in March. Some countries — such as Egypt, Somalia, Laos, and Benin — import more than 80% of their wheat from Russia and Ukraine.
Earlier this month, the Biden administration vowed ahead of the Summit of the Americas to provide another $331 million in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-commits-to-fighting-food-shortages-in-latin-america">food security and humanitarian</a> aid for Latin American nations.
“This contribution will complement the United States’ existing commitment to providing life-saving humanitarian assistance, responding to acute food insecurity, and advancing capacity-building activities that bolster disaster preparedness and response” across Latin America and the Caribbean, a White House <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/06/09/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-commitments-to-advance-food-security-in-the-western-hemisphere/">statement</a> said.

Protests Spread To Panama As Inflation, Gas Prices Strangle Developing World

Protests Rock Panama As Inflation, Gas Prices Cripple Economy

Gas Prices

Russia

Ukraine

In 2018, Marshall Mayer and other investors started a project to crowdfund money to buy the “world’s first crowdfunded private island.” A year later, they had raised more than $250,000 through their website “Let’s Buy an Island,” CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/islandia-lets-buy-an-island-micronation/index.html">reported</a>.
Just before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, in December of 2019, Mayer and his group raised enough money through their crowdfunding strategy to buy Coffee Caye, a one-acre island near the coast of Belize in Central America.
Crowdfunding is when large groups of people donate money for particular business ideas and startups, according to <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/crowdfunding.asp">Investopedia</a>. With an increasingly online world, crowdfunding has found success in starting successful businesses and even making movies and award-winning TV series like “<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/fans-pour-fundingand-faithinto-a-hit-drama-about-jesus-11637989204">The Chosen</a>.” 
But as far as buying an entire island completely through crowdfunding, Mayer and his group of investors made history as the first. 
“In 2018 we began to accept investors with the understanding that once we hit a minimum number we would buy an island regardless,” the <a href="https://www.letsbuyanisland.com/">website</a> states on its homepage. “The golden number was hit quickly! We have since purchased Coffee Island in Belize, becoming the first group to successfully crowd source buying an island” (emphasis original).
Mayer had the idea for a while – 15 years to be exact according to CNN – but his idea for a crowdfunded island got a new spark when he met Gareth Johnson, co-founder and CEO of “Let’s Buy an Island.” 
Johnson had also been interested in crowdfunding for a private island. He approached Mayer with the idea in 2018 when he saw an island in the Philippines for sale. 
​​&#8221;When Gareth first put the idea to me, I thought God no, this will never become a reality,&#8221; Mayer said, &#8220;But he began to explain how much an island might cost, and we realized that actually, there are parts of the world where buying an island was much more realistic.”
Their website claims Coffee Island has 103 investors, and anyone can become an investor with a donation of at least $5,495. Investors get to help make decisions about the island and become part owners of the tropical paradise. 
Islandia isn’t just some crowdfunded getaway – it’s also somewhat of a social experiment. The investors consider their island a “micronation experiment” that aims to “forward [their] ideals of democracy.” They even named their micronation the “Principality of Islandia.” 
According to Islandia’s website, “The Principality of Islandia is a micronation experiment within the greater IBG project. We plan to use our island paradise to forward our own ideals of democracy, inclusion and sustainability. We will do this in a manner that is in keeping with, and enhances the laws of our host nation.”
While the crowdfunded island isn’t recognized as a nation by the international community, some investors consider it pretty close to a real country. &#8220;We are as close to a nation as you can get, without getting an army and a navy,&#8221; Johnson told CNN.
The website allows for anyone to become a citizen of Islandia for “a very small donation.” “Citizenship is a great way to support the project, and get insider deals as we begin offering the island for rent,” the website states. “You’ll get deals on other great products too, plus you’ll always stay on top of everything else we’re up to.”
“Let’s Buy an Island” is reaching out to anyone who wants the perks of owning a private island. “Many of us have dreamed of owning an island, with all the benefits that come with it: isolation, relaxation, and that joy that comes with knowing you are disconnected from the busy world most of us deal with each day,” the website states. 
“We now have our island, our investor base is growing, and we want you to be a part of it,” the investors write. Islandia is aimed toward those who want to vacation like millionaires without needing the wallets of millionaires. The “island property [is] designed to rent to travellers who can visit, live, relax and enjoy the solitude of nature, and the joy of staying on your own private island.”
A crowdfunded micronation might not be as successful as other crowdfunding experiments, but for now, the island investors are happy with what they’ve accomplished. “It was a crazy leap of faith to take,” said Mayer. “But our initial goal of buying an island, we&#8217;ve done it.”
The group did not respond to a Daily Wire request for comment.
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Island

Investors Crowdfunded The Purchase Of A Private Island. Now They Have Their Own ‘Micronation.’

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