Man, I gotta appreciate these videos for a second. The way you explain things in combination with your graphics is so straightforward and easy to follow. Especially when describing strategic situations, this is such easily-digestible content. Great craftsmanship involved and a TON of research I'm sure! You're doing good work to educate myself and many others!
Basically the first half of the video was a nothing burger with just redundant and time wasting information, the video could be 5 minutes long and would explain everything necessary, but its dragged on just to hit the 10 min+ mark to make more money. Just a nitpick but his voice is so annoying, every time he finishes a phrase he says "all over the wooorlde", "the united staaatess", "paaanama".
sounds like you have a grudge (but I agree though). I was really bothered by the fact that he just randomly talked about the Panama canal for no reason@@Philip-qq7ql
@@Philip-qq7ql he also has a very democrat world view which is why the algo loves him, but many points of info are misleading, missing key intel, and hyperbole. U have to know the subjects in most cases to detect it but obvi liberal “nwo” propaganda laden.
Civil Engineer here: not only is the construction of a road a nightmare, but before that, immense permitting and surveying must be conducted. That means that every acre of the gap that would be used for a roadway must be surveyed by people or drones in this environment, which is its own issue.
🤔 architect here, and although my job isn't directly connected to building for transportation, I must still take into account the engineering disciplines civil and structural. But for the placement of the road isn't is as simple as prefabricated columns and road ways? Much like they have done Bahrain (please check it out, type in Bahraini roadways or something, i did see it about a decade ago), the temperature there easily soars into the 40-45°c region and they also are a tropical climate, only difference is they're a desert. Idk but I'm sure, if all the pieces were made offsite, somewhere comfortable, with A.C and a shopping mall, the surveying and setting up the roads has to be done on site, permits are nothing more than receiving permission, it should be straight forward to build, no? I think the political reasons are the deciding factor as to why the darian straight hasn't been completed.
Another big reason why there is no hurry to build a highway through the gap is that it functions as something of a firebreak for holding back the spread of hoof-and-mouth disease and screwworm to North American agriculture. The US, Mexico, and Panama maintain an extensive program of spreading sterile screwworm flies in the Gap to keep outbreaks south of the border.
I've always heard that and the environmental damage as the main reasons why it hasn't been made. I'm surprised neither was mentioned. Though the reasons given were also compelling.
@@ClydeFrog13 The environmental issue definitely 100% should've been mentioned. Environmentalists obviously don't have as much power as governments but pretty much all of them worldwide see it as one of the few remaining completely wild areas and are against fucking that up. Even a single road or railway can lead to major issues for some animals and cut their ranges dramatically.
I am from Panama. What is going on in Darien is way worst than what is being reported and unscrupulous people and organizations are profiting from it. That being said, I hope the gap is never opened. We are a third world country with incompetent authorities that will sell us out to cartels and guerrillas in a second.
But dude, you are fine with America keeping their cartel and propping up this artificial country? Think of WHY there is so much violence? It is all American influence. Geopolitics takes advantage of the propaganda that makes people fight for artificial tribes and nations that are nothing more than the borders generated by "players". We the humans need to care about each other more deeply and become one tribe.
@@whitewolf30f nope that's call money... they are poor and when they get to the US they will claim benefits.... i want more socalism in the US so i understand they will need to close the borders more
as an american, I've been to panama on a civil mission when i was in high school. my family is mexican, and Panama is a beautiful country. I stayed in Panama City and traveled to la escuela estado de minnesota. We helped them with supplies so much they changed the name of their school to my state's name. amazing people.
I briefly worked on one of the many proposals for an electrical grid interconnection point between Panama and Colombia, and even that, with HVDC terminals way outside the gap, connecting underwater, is still such an unbelievable expensive and complicated endeavor that I don’t see it ever getting done either. Personally as a Panamanian that has worked in Darien, I don’t see the gap ever getting closed. Another thing that went unmentioned in this video is that the area where the gap exists is home to several indigeous groups that are fairly well protected by our laws and basically self rule themselves, and have no intentions of getting their millennial homeland destroyed. That said, many of these groups also benefit massively by the drug trade, enabling and assisting traffickers through their lands. And this is not even mentioning the immigration concerns already existing in panama due to the massive and unregulated migration of colombians in the 90s and venezuelans in the 2000s. It’s all so very complicated and we have plenty of other things to worry already…
How do the Darrien gap natives benefit from the drug traffickers? I would just assume they have no choice but to comply under their threats of violence etc.
@@MariosPOS I used to work on yachts in the area. The Kuna people who control the Panama side sell the traffickers fuel for massive mark ups. They will hide a bunch of barrels on an island for the traffickers to refuel. Occasionally you'll see huge plumes of Diesel smoke from the security forces blowing them up.
@@MariosPOS the "drug traffick" had been the heart blood of the natives since before Europeans became a factor. So it's the same game with bigger prizes and different markets. That's why US had never eliminated it.
@@MariosPOSI obviously don’t have any verifiable information, just stuff I heard from the locals at times, but as far as I understand all or most of the interactions are more or less business-like in mutual benefit, I would assume violence is not sustainable in the long run. And as far as I understand its either holding onto merchandise, guiding transport groups through difficult treks or like, _diving up cargo dropped from boats on the coast_ to like avoid coastal guards and shit.
Geopolitical issues aside, I think it's great that there's still an area untouched by the modern world. Not implying that this is the only area like that, but there needs to be some blank spots on the map.
@@timotheataea one hundred kilometer bridge that doesn't touch the jungle is a tough project. The only way is along the coast. At that point making a coastal road would be much cheaper and easier. Bridges need supports (so jungle would be disturbed) and a road to get supplies there is needed if the route isn't coastal.
Fun fact Darien’s lethal environment is why Scotland lost its independence to England. Scotland’s attempt to bridge Atlantic to Pacific trade pre-Canal, and get stinking rich, bankrupted Scotland when all their people sent to develop a road in Darien died.
stupid economic decisions are underrated in the histories on how empires fall see also: John Law, and how he crippled the French economy another Scotsman btw
Just FYI, hardening concrete in a wet environment is not only not difficult, but it's actually incredibly easy with the right concrete chemistry, since there are water hardening concretes that will harden more the wetter they get. This is what they use for building bridges and dams. The real issue is with ensuring it doesn't crack (self healing concrete is also a thing to help this), because water getting into any rebar lattice holding the concrete together will rust it apart and cause the slab to spall.
Yeah, that part is completely off. Almost the entire Panama have the same problem of humidity and heat, and the roads around the country are just fine.
@@byhyew Yea Practical Engineering (another channel that also posts to Nebula) has a video on this from just recently talking about concrete chemistry, a lot of his viewers also watch RLL, it seems like a number of people caught it and commented lol
@@TheOriginalFaxon I feel it's really more of a political decision. That Panama is wealthier and better off islanded off from the poorer but much bigger and stronger Colombia from where it broke off.
Indonesia successfully build their Trans-Sumatra toll road which the conditions were pretty much the same minus there are actually some minor settlement across the planned path.
1700 to 1800 meter prominence is pretty impressive but 1800~ mountain peaks are hardly anything special i spent most of my childhood in a high valley thats way above 1800 meters
The Panama canal construction was a French project in the late 1800's that failed due to lack of funding. The USA took over the proyect in 1904. Oh!! And Panama's independence was from Spain in the early 1800's, but Panama became part of the Great Colombia for protection, however, that protection came at a very high price to the Panamanians that desided to separate from it. There is a lot more on the Torrijos - Carter treatie, but that is a story for another day, but overall, great video. Thank you 👍
It wasn't just funding, illness was the biggest problem, yellow fever in particular. America succeeded because we identified the cause of yellow fever and implemented a mosquito control system that enabled people to work. Everyone should remember the name Clara Maass, the nurse who sacrificed herself to prove mosquitoes were the source of yellow fever.
Ahh so Panama is a unsatisfied woman that breaks from one relationship to go to another then hates that one to jump into another then demand to be single🤣💯
I've seen a video about the geographical challenges of the Darien gap before, but knowing the political climate in the area really adds a lot to the story!
Yeah. If only the us would legalize drugs and help stabilize the drug market instead of complaining of how many emigrants leave due to drug wars and colonialism...
This is true, I heard if the Darian gap before and its geographical and engineering challenges, which in todays world the geographical challenges are are far less daunting, and the engineering is simple. But the political is where the point stands firm. If they were saying they want our jobs, blah blah blah, I would say they're being racist, but since the fight is against narcotics, they're completely justified in not finishing the road. Although stopping drugs by road is as simple as upping security, this costs money, one thing neither the US, Mexico, or Panama has
@@assaqwwq I don't want to get too much into this, but something tells me the usa is living hand to mouth. In writing, so idk if it's true or not, they say their in $30T debt, and practically the usa has so many homeless people. If the usa had money, they would take care of their homeless, not charge so much in medical bills, lower the costs of education, invest in infrastructure and take care of their society. Even their military (which they spend billons on) after the soldiers come home a lot of them end up homeless and have to fend for themselves. Nah, the usa has money, but they're on a tight budget.
@@sandrajones8245 in the US, a majority of our tax dollars go to everything but US citizens. We just send a hundred billion dollars to Ukrainian for more war. We sent isreal 3 billion dollars every day. They talk about our overinflated military budget. Well, we are the world Police. We end up training soldiers for other countries. Not to mention, the president is a global puppet that had sex with kids on Epstein island.
one thing: common misconception that you need a cell signal to accurately know your location via Google Maps. If you download the map area ahead of time, your phone has a GPS receiver that operates independently from cell service and with a clear view of the sky (regardless of cell service) you can know your location on the planet at all times.
As a Colombian I would really doubt Colombia would be willing to conquer panama at any point, Venezuela, Ecuador and parts of Brazil were also Colombian territory, and Colombia has never tried to retake them in the last century (as much as I am aware of) and specially because the US is the biggest Colombian ally in modern geopolitics. And with the centralized structure of the government I would doubt it would be managed properly (that's why they lost it too so yeah). Colombia's issues also lie in wars with multiple guerrilla groups since more than 50 years ago, even with a "peace treaty" with "las FARC" that was made a couple years ago, it made that the individuals that didn't agree with them got separated from the main lead and make even smaller groups, so the war is not really over and there are other groups remaining, but the main problem is the crazy amounts of people that had to leave their homes and lands to not get killed by drug cartels and guerrilla conflicts. So if it was not enough with the drugs and war we have a really divided political demographic making progress really difficult, so making a decision to invade an allied country in this state is extrememy unlikely. And we are also a "strategic ally" for NATO since 2022, which implies in case of a war NATO would aid us (or viceversa) with military supplies and resources. So attacking a US ally (panama) which is also our ally and NATO's would not be wise at all. And tbh it lacks any purpose and in the long term they would get independence again at some point for the geographical gap and cultural differences. A south american war would be more likely to happen with venezuela being a Russian and chinese ally, so in case of a world war that would be definitely a point of conflict. Another option would be when natural resources like water get so scarce that it requires bigger forces to conquer other ones in order to survive, in that case colombia would definitely would be invaded from other powers, even the US if needed. But that's just my point if view. Great video, nice job
He meant that the geopolitical situation could change and Panama wanted no risks. Yeah modern Colombia doing it is laughable since there is good relations, but countries went from friendly to mortal enemies before.
We haven't tried in the last century because we were busy killing each others in the internal conflicts, but in the early 19th there were some wars aganist Ecuador over the ownership of Pasto, so I would say that there's precedent
@@danielutriabrooks477 yeah, that's true but for modern south america the relationships between countries aside from Venezuela are good, we don't know what could happen in the next 60-100 years but for the current situation I really doubt Colombia of all countries would decide to invade a neighbor, the drugs and political corruption / stagnation has really damage the progress. But with the Colombian army has a lot of power due to the drug wars too, so who knows
In 1961, Chevrolet took 3 1961 Corvairs thru the Darien Gap. Search "Daring the Darien" to watch a GM promotional film about that trip, keeping in mind that GM downplayed the disease aspect of the trip. One of the cars is still in the jungle somewhere, as it was too damaged to bring back home. Great video, RLL.
Great video. One thing though. Google maps with preloaded maps, or another offline oriented map app, work 100% fine without cell service. GPS is global and doesn't require internet.
Yeah, it's trivial to navigate with just GPS if someone has surveyed the route before. People like to assume Google Maps is the only way, but in fact it's complete garbage for doing anything besides making money for Google. The only issue might be carrying 10 days worth of batteries.
Also, satellite phones are a real thing nowadays. You can even text people. About the only thing you're not going to have is high data rates nowadays with technology
@@highonahill Services now exist with networks that provide GPS location and texting on your cell phone without any connection to a cell network or towers. You don't even need a sat phone.
I was actually on an expedition through the darien gap last month and the conditions there were equal to hell so you´re hella right to say that it is hard to cross. I could not make it all the way cause of nursea(8 out of 13 gave up due to bad health conditions) ,still it was a nice experience and the enviroment is one of a kind :)
@@markstahl1464 he mentions he did an expedition, not the route the immigrants do. Some people do scientific research in Darién and they spent days there. Some others like extreme adventure. Lets wait his tale.
Must be nice, you going where a bunch of homeless emigrants fight to survive. Happy you had that experience, sorry you didn't stay there... Bad health... My ass...
4:55 Concrete doesn't dry, it cures. In fact, allowing concrete to dry out as it cures will cause damage. In dry climates you need to keep the surface wet for several days. They make concrete that will set under water, so really the rain is not a huge problem. The heat and humidity is however.
@@ajavier7634 Lo que pasa es que en el video se muestra como si Panama fuera muchisimo mejor que el resto de latinoamerica cuando en realidad no lo es xd
@@reyalfa18 no se en que parte entendiste eso? A mi me da igual si es mejor o no, peroblos problemas internos que Colombia a tenido porque siglos no los tenemos y no los queremos.
Amazing video! Side note, as a Dominican I hate the hypocrisy in my country over illegal immigrants. Our people hate on Haitians who are looking for a better life yet they turn a blind eye when it is their family moving to the States for the same reason. Luckily now the DR is in a much better place than before, hopefully more people stay.
Same here in Slovakia bro, everyone hates the immigrants coming from Ukraine and Middle East, yet they even wish good luck and encourage people moving to the west like the UK or Germany
Sorry to hear that but glad to hear your country is improving. I’d love to visit someday. Unfortunately, people all over the world are hypocrites when it comes to immigration. In my country the people who tell us the land was stolen from the native peoples are the same people who say we have to open the borders to allow the world in. They love the native people. They hate the other people who were born here and They love the people who want to migrate here.
Man, your channel is great. I've read and listened to this issue by latin americans (I'm argentinian) and while most of us focus on the humanitarian part of the problem, it's hard to grasp how all the factors weight into the decition to let the Darien be what it is. Now, your video made me utter "the gringo understands!" because, man, people in other places that are unaffected by this situation simply not only don't care but don't understand! Is so refreshing seeing how you understand it from the perspective of the different nations that I'm really happy to see it explained in a concise and interesting way, with images to illustrate it. Great great work, man, thank you!
This and the most recent video on Mexico’s mountainous geography have been top tier. Thank you so much for the work you do and the content you provide!
@@ethereal_catt These channel isn't all that accurate, they often get things wrong. I have no idea how it could be considered propaganda though, especially this video
As a Panamanian, I find funny the fact that he didn’t mention at all the true reason why USA lost, yes, LOST the Canal. Zonian aka “American” students refused to put Panama’s flag in the Canal Zone. There was even a treaty that established it, they just simply didn’t want to. Panamanian students went into the Canal Zone, with permission and a flag in hand, Zonian students started to fight them, the US military intervened, and that’s how the riots started. Panamanian citizens defended themselves with stones while US army was shooting at them. A total of 22 Panamanian students were killed. We could actually say that our only student shooting was in fact caused by the US.
The south American tribes got there somehow so I guess it wouldn't have been impossible. The distance itself was probably more of a factor but the Darien gap would've made it even more unlikely.
Not the Incas and Aztecs though, but there were other tribes that came to Mesoamerica from South America and met with other tribes, the chibchas crossed the Darién and came here before European arrival.
@@abelramirez7320 Pretty sure the distance between Rome and China was far bigger but they did manage to at least trade indirectly with each other. And the problem was precisely that. There was a lot of hostile and untrusty tribes roaming in dense and extremely hostile rainforests. Incas and aztec were EMPIRES and therefore, needed a whole political, military, architectonic and economic system to back them up. They weren't high-mobility small tribes, who could afford living there. Even the spanish had to go around by sea to South America.
Not the aztecs but maybe the "golden age" mayans could have, as recent evidence of lost island colonies show they probably had seafaring technology. Also the aztecs were not even close to the darrien gap, their territory pretty much ended were the jungle starts
@@leonake4194 Andean people indeed had a considerable naval technology (having developed sails and rudders) and the farthrest distance in which the Incan empire was known was precisely Panama. So you could have a point. Even it was proposed that some cultural influences in the Andes and west Amazonia came from the Mayan region thousands of years before the Incas
Are you his mom? He is getting more into more difficult political videos and I don't think he's doing well. Most of what the US knows about Latin America is straight from the State department.
@@seanhedgpeth2109 how are you in Beijing? Or Moscow? Any ways, the political videos aren’t often flawed but they are often not remotely pro US therefore I’m wondering of the huge bias you have.
@@darealberrygarcia the two biggest and probably only real factor in why they didn’t connect South America to North America is that it’s too expensive to build and Maintain roads through the gap and the second reason is the huge negative impact to the environment. This video is much like most of their videos in the past year - way too alarmist and often exaggerating things such as stating the US is the reason a road hasn’t been built through the gap.
I've been seeing a lot of content about the Darien gap in recent weeks or moths. NY Times podcast (The Daily) had an episode on a a reporter who did the travel through the Darien gap with migrants. It was tough. They saw at least one dead body. The major problems they discussed is that it's often hilly (ups and downs), muddy, streams, insects, very hot and humid, and not close to any civilization if you get sick or injured. And that's usually how the deaths occur - a person gets sick or injured and cannot go any further and succumbs to the conditions. They ran into one 9yr old child separated from her mother and being looked after by one of the men making the trip. The reporter falls behind to see if she can cross path with the mother. She does. The woman has blisters and possibly infections in her feet and could not keep up. She lost her daughter near some hill. if those blisters or infections were any worse, it could be her body that others see later on.
Tropical disease wreaking havoc on construction workers was also a problem for the Panama Canal. Walter Reed, a name that may be recognizable from a US military hospital in the DC area, was noted for research on yellow fever which was helpful to the successful canal project.
I feel just as you do. I have visited São Paulo on many occasions and São Paulo is just like New York. You can get anything that you need there. No reason to move. I thought that was interesting as well.
@@Dbo_Sports they are just Fortune seekers from africa. If you are ready to risk your life for a higher wage and better living no one is obligied to feel sorry for you, you made that decision
yeah, that was pretty stupid hahahaha americans view latin america like we're all lowly insects trying to transform into real humans by going to the amazing us of a
It was the video where he talked about a road that connected the entire planet or at least one that allows you to drive from South Africa to Argentina and Chile And a video on the Darien gap a couple years ago
For those of you wondering, he did a video of this a while a back. It’s called “What If We Built a Road around the World,” also some of his videos are remakes of videos he did almost 3-5 years ago such as the North Sentinel Island video for example.
This is not about a road around the world. On the video your talking about, he wasn't just talking about this specific area. Don't be surprised if he comes out with " whst if we build a bridge across Mediterranean" which he also mentioned on the video you mentioned. "
There was a proposal for a coast road raised on concrete piers along the shore line of the Caribbean. It would be in effect the longest over pass in the world. It would literally stand on the beach and in the mangroves just 2 meters above the sea. In some places it would touch land only enough to create a base area for maintenance crews and a food and toilet stop. Needless to say the proposal came from someone that engineers bridges and over passes. The sea breeze would help keep the mosquitoes and other lethal bugs at bay.
For what purpose? It's far cheaper to use ships to move produce and the only human traffic is largely unwanted. Such a highway would cost a fortune to build and to maintain - so who's going to foot the bill?
I visited Yaviza 15 years ago on a mission trip. While the Darien Gap is harsh, it's still quite beautiful, especially coming from a place like the Great Plains of the United States. I took so many pictures of just the massive amounts of jungle trees because there were so few trees back home. Also, pretty much everyone in Yaviza lived in a shack, the roads in the town were essentially wide sidewalks since they were made of concrete, but sometimes on those roads you would see someone driving a brand new Nissan Pathfinder. One day, some members of our group, including me, went out into the jungle to help clear land for a farm. We put so much insect repellent on ourselves that we basically had a bath in insect repellent and washed our clothes in insect repellent. We also learned how to say "Don't shoot" in Spanish, though thankfully we never had to use it.
@@jancukasu sorry, I should have been more specific. The Darien Gap can and has been home to armed conflict, though there have not been problems for years. One group in particular being responsible for most of it is the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia, or FARC. One of the most recent, if not most recent, incidences comes from 2013. A Swedish backpacker named Jan Philip Braunisch left the Columbian town of Riosuscio, saying he wanted to attempt to cross the Darien Gap in foot into Panama via the Cuenca Cacarica, but he disappeared. FARC admitted they killed him, thinking him to be a foreign spy.
True story. After I got about of the army, I was a drunken hobo living in my car which, you can imagine ends with crossing law enforcement eventually. Arrest for DUI in Virginia, got bail, got car out of impound. Decides to keep drinking, and chose to skip my court date. Where was I? Driving through North Carolina, after deciding I would hide out in Venezuela since there is no extradition. Had no passport, no luggage, a backseat full of empty booze bottles. I expected to make it too! That damn GPS seemed to be broken, wouldn’t let me set a route to Caracas, where I would live like a king! 🤦♂️Google learned me a lesson that day.
16:57 that's simply not true you can use google maps without the internet, simply by pre-downloading the map, and tracking your location with GPS. no internet required
@@xryeau_1760 i'm not really aware of those, can you clarify? i know of satellite phones, tho they are very expensive (both the device itself, and payment plan to even make calls with it), so i'd assume a person in such desperate situation probably couldn't afford one..
I appreciate that real life lore probably could have ended the video after 5:18 ‐ 5:37 but he didn't, he gives us all the juicy details. Thank you, RealLifeLore ❤
Ugh stop being so cringe its bad for your health. This is whats called "info-tainment" ... Do you not understand they push a biased agenda by NGO sponsors smh hahaha
8 mins is the minimum time to monetize a video with ads (On top of their sponsor) Its not out of the goodnes of their hearts; content creation is a business.
Steve-O and Chris Pontius crossed the Darien Gap. Pontius said it was one of the most frustrating things that he's glad he's done but would never want to do again.
.....hey @Groom of the Stool.....do you like wiping your leader's ass ?? Does the sight and smell want you to eat a big plate of runny, scrambled eggs ??
RealLifeLore, I commend you for bringing these modern problems to light. I feel like it is easy to brush over the current state of our world because it isn't covered by the news or because it's just too confusing to understand. You make these issues accessible and engaging. I've learned a lot from your videos and wish the schools I attended took advantage of this content.
He also conveniently brought up the colonialism of one nation and left out the socialist government of another, while trying to describe the reasons for their current impoverished & sad civil situation.
@@MR-nl8xr Haiti also doesn't have an average IQ that is high enough to sustain it's population. The challenges required to bring them up to standards with the Dominican Republic are insurmountable. I can understand why most countries turn a blind eye to that part of the world apart from disaster relief.
@@MR-nl8xr I know people who each year spend an entire summer and millions of donated dollars setting up self-sustaining agriculture for the locals. And every year when they returned everything was ripped apart and destroyed. So they started from scratch again and again and again. They literally did everything they could next to running it themselves. After many years they finally gave up. It's easier and cheaper now just to send food.
10:16 you mentioned that Costa Rica is "generally ranked as being the single most stable country in the whole of NA". You should really make a video about why CR is doing so much better than its regional peers in terms HDI, Democratic Freedoms, Life Expectency, etc.
i remember when this video was first posted and emphasized in the roughness of the terrain over the much much rougher geopolitical obstacles that makes the darien gap also known in spanish as the darien's plug (tapon del darien)
I started following this channel during the height of the pandemic and never looked back. Thanks for the very interesting topics as always, RealLifeLore! More power! Keep the videos coming!
Had a friend tell me his story from Bangladesh to America !! Literally told me this EXACT story (with many more crazy details). So cool to have it verified like this !
Another thing to mention is that the Darien gap is not only home to dangerous animals but also to indigenous people, and they are savages. I am Venezuelan, so I know people who have walked the gap, and I have heard many stories of how indigenous people rape, kill, and kidnap people with little regard for material things, although they sometimes demand sex and cash for safe passage. The cartel/guerrilla asks for money for passage, but the indigenous people outright rape and kill if they feel like it. Bear in mind that these indigenous people are not jungle people; they have modern weapons and clothes and have some relationship with the local guerilla groups, but they are their own thing.
But how many loose their life? Say what you like but they bypass it if they can by water. That costs them and if you happen to fall overboard so what. Maybe they tossed you after they got your money. It's a lawless area and your life means nothing. So Maybe you should do a. Adventure tour and cross it. I sure as hell wouldn't want to try or think it's easy or doable. Ever been in a swamp or marsh with gators? How about the FL glades? That would only give you a taste of what they conveyed.
The point is that there'd be probably millions (not "just" hundreds of thousands) if it weren't that difficult. "difficult" is a relative term. You need to keep that in mind.. As an example, is becoming a professional basketballer difficult? Probably. But there are probably several tens of thousands of them worldwide. That doesn't mean it's not difficult to become a professional basketballer.
Very interesting for me as an European, never heard of that gap. We have the issue with migrants in the mediteranian sea, where the people come with non-sea-capable boats and drown regularly, it is a sad story. Don't understand me wrong, I think we should to help people in need, but we can't help everyone from everywhere.
It's just so unfortunate how the US and parts of Europe invaded and colonized and took all of these countries resources and left them so unstable and poor. Imagine if they were more fair with them from the get go how much more prosperous these countries would be, thus not as many of them need to migrate to US or Europe :(
Well, EU is not willing to do anything about it as long as Turkiye is holding them. Even though we kept vast majority of them in Turkiye you still have issues with what you got. EU needs to take initiative and do something serious about it if you don't want flocks of people coming through your border. The situation in Turkiye is about to change.
@@JayForsure as a latín American that's pretty much the case, if it wasn't Europeans colonizing us, it was the US directly intervening in the political affairs putting puppet governments to control south america. Geographically latín América has huge potential with it's resources, climate and water. But luckily we are in a way better state than Africa, they truly are a no man's land, the colonialism truly destroyed everything there.
Oh American dream... I've lived myself in the streets in the US, and now it's been 2 years of living back in South America, like many other Americans fleeing violence IN AMERICA. Your maps are really impressive and the narrator catches our attention with his enthusiasm, but oughta update your concepts recognising America is a Concept not a Territory 😉
Very little warming is predicted in the tropics. And any that has happened in the last 30-odd years has been much less than the models predicted. Most warming is likely to occur much further north, where all the industries lie.
Past of the reason they travel here (people never seem to talk about the "WHY") is that we, the United States, places crippling economic sanctions on their countries. This is part of the way we overthrow "unfriendly" governments. Do you know how many times the United States interfere on THEIR elections process? Remember when we told Venezuela, "Oh this guy Juan Gauido is gonna be your President?" LMAO Nobody in the United States even blinked an eye over here thinking that was such a normal thing to do.
I worked on tourist yachts between Cartagena and Panama in 2010. We occasionally be boarded by Blackhawks from either Panama special forces or the US coast guard who were a long way from home.
Panamanian here. It’s a difficult number to keep track of. I’ve read testimonies of survivors. It is almost part of the journey to find a body or several on your crossing. One testimony said that his group saw a family, or presumed, floating down a river. Another testimony was from a Venezuelan uncle who was in a group that was attacked by a Colombian guerrilla, they killed his niece and many others, he faked his death while being thrown is a hole with several bodies. He could escape that and take his niece’s body with him.
@@eymiporahi As a southeast asian whose country is not covering a lot of international news much less south american events, it really gives new perspective to the phrase, this world is constantly spinning and there will always be things happening around you even if you don't see it.
@@eymiporahi do the testimonies include why the people are being killed? Are the victims being robbed? And/or were the victims potentially following an unusual route, which was actually for drug traffickers?
The Darien Gap is extremely hard to cross and there are no roads... but 1,000 people per day cross it including children. So maybe not that hard as there are well established trails.
@@markjames8664if there are so desperate, why don’t they claim asylum in the next country like they are supposed to? These people will literally pass multiple countries to get to America bc we are stupid enough to take care of all these people. It’s the free benefits they know they are getting from the US.
Looks like the darian gap isn't keeping anyone back. Panama could simply make a security agreement with the us to protect against columbia and then finish the road. That would be a boon to economic development in that part of the world, and lessen columbia's economic dependence on drugs. The lack of this road is probably the single biggest reason for how underdeveloped Central america is.
The 1957 book "20,000 Miles South--A Pan-American Adventure in a Sea-going Jeep from the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego" by Helen and Frank Schreider details how one small expedition crossed the gap in an amphibious jeep. Looks like things haven't changed in 75 years.
@@taino1642 Yes, great idea, let's put *weapons of war* on the border of a nation with which we have had no conflict for 175 years. The problem, at its core, is that a bunch of rich assholes want their drugs for their huge rich asshole parties, but want to enslave the rest of us. The land mines should be put outside the homes of those rich assholes and their assets seized and redistributed by the government.
what i dont understand is if Colombia makes so much money from drug trade, why dont they spend that money on opening the gap? is it just easier for them to ship it to panama and then drive it north?
I'm Colombian and another reason to never buid a road is the vast biodiversity in the Darien. Colombia is the second most biodiverse country in the world and we must protect it. Also, we would never invade Panama lol
This is an interesting video to watch, given that my family is currently housing two migrants who crossed the gap last september. They are a father son pair from venezuala, and had to flee after all the jobs either dissapeared or had wages drop to under 10 dollars a month. the rest of their family is in columbia, and the pair made it into the US in october on an asylum visa, but the visa does not allow them to work, so they have to take under-the-table work to support the family in columbia. the whole situation is really tough for everyone involved.
@@speed7bump Panama has increased its xenophobia against Venezuelans (more specifically the lower class people that are the ones in need to escape through the darien gap) year after year so most people avoid it due to that. The ones that usually make it in Panama and stay there tend to be what used to be middle class in Venezuela and had valuable degrees or experience.
@@speed7bumpagreed. Or Costa Rica. Or Mexico. Or El Salvador now. While I sympathize with people who had the bad luck to be a resident of a dumpster fire nation, why is it always the goal to try and migrate to the USA? If you’re an asylum seeker, you’re supposed to seek it in the first safe country that you arrive in. That’s arguably Colombia and most certainly Panama or Costa Rica for a Venezuelan. I’ll put it this way. If we’re supposed to take all of their people and not ask questions, why not just dust their government and colonize them? Turn their country into a nation w/ similar legal status as Puerto Rico. Everyone would instantly become a US citizen.
@@Fermonx “increased its xenophobia”? Like it’s a dial that can be turned up and down? Buddy, if xenophobia is increasing here, it’s due to the new Venezuelan gangs trying to move in. Furthermore, xenophobia (which is a weird term, because it implies that the Panameños are afraid of them) does not mean the country is not safe for them. I know many of them, without degrees, who live and work here, and are members of the community. With that still in mind, explain why it’s more prudent for them to continue on thousands of miles to the US, if they are moving due to security, and not financial gain?
You forgot to mention which you already mentioned in the previous Darien Gap video is the potential of spreading hoof and mouth disease which still occur to cattle in South America while eradicated in Central and North America. Lack of roads prevented the spread of diseases.
One error regarding the map, Suriname is also considered as a stable country and people are not moving away to the USA. Same goes for Guyana as far as I know.
@@GregHassler but I think they should be covered again. I’m not too knowledgeable in the subject but there *has* to be a large environmentalist movement from someone like Greenpeace who is staunchly against building a road right through a pristine forest.
@@therealspeedwagon1451 I'm wondering if it would be okay to build a railway instead of a road since railways aren't as large and wildlife could go right through.
@@trollinator4838 that’s what I was thinking too. Besides railways are far more efficient than cars. Too bad the companies control the government and lobby against any anti-car law that makes them lose money.
It does depend on what type of road you build, if it is elevated off the ground then it would be easy to control what goes in or out and would not be useful for invasion.
I purchased a year subscription to nebula under your link just to support you. I probably won't even watch too many videos (other than the exclusives) on it. I just wanted to support my favorite RUclips creator :)
One other point not fully fleshef out in this piece is that even if a road was built through this area, it would need CONSTANT maintenance and patrolling due to some of the reasons mentioned. This alone, alongside the massive investment to build to the road, must add to the decision not to build. Also, having an armed presence that close to Panama would not make them very happy.
I recall watching the video on the "Journey of the Americas" in which they used some Jeep CJ-7 4WDs to drive through this Darian Gap as well. Then of course General Motors comical use of Chevrolet Corvairs to drive through this quagmire as well 😂. Even Land Rover attempted driving it in their new Range Rovers back in their first release. They shredded axles left & right in that region.
I remember seeing an old Land Rover commercial where they actually crossed the gap but had to take thing apart for every river crossing, a road can be built if the will is strong enough.
I may be missing something, but couldn't a road be heavily guarded and strictly checkpointed way more easily than a swamp? Maybe Panama doesn't feel confident they can protect it against gangs? But gangs/migrants could still try to sneak around the road, so it seems like a road would mostly just benefit trade and tourism to me.
Fact: a COPA airlines plane crashed in the Darien gap and was one of the hardest plane wreckage’s to find due to the location
To quote one of the investigators:
“On the first day, we had eight snake bites, three broken legs, and one cardiac arrest.”
Idc bozo
That actually doesn't sound very fun
@@thebestnoobyt1270 What The hell is wrong with you. Why would you comment that.
@@thebestnoobyt1270 Mate you make roblox stuff shut up
I went through the Panama canal at the age of 8, in 1973.... I love the fact that the Pacific entrance is further east than the Atlantic entrance...
Um, k?
@@dickriggles942user name checks out
Its easy to forget that Panama is a horizontal country.
@@ACS2 yeah, you usually imagine the canal going from east to west but is actually goes from north to south
damn, ur 58
Man, I gotta appreciate these videos for a second. The way you explain things in combination with your graphics is so straightforward and easy to follow. Especially when describing strategic situations, this is such easily-digestible content. Great craftsmanship involved and a TON of research I'm sure! You're doing good work to educate myself and many others!
Too bad his history is total bullshit.
Basically the first half of the video was a nothing burger with just redundant and time wasting information, the video could be 5 minutes long and would explain everything necessary, but its dragged on just to hit the 10 min+ mark to make more money. Just a nitpick but his voice is so annoying, every time he finishes a phrase he says "all over the wooorlde", "the united staaatess", "paaanama".
sounds like you have a grudge (but I agree though). I was really bothered by the fact that he just randomly talked about the Panama canal for no reason@@Philip-qq7ql
@@Philip-qq7ql 😂😂😂
@@Philip-qq7ql he also has a very democrat world view which is why the algo loves him, but many points of info are misleading, missing key intel, and hyperbole. U have to know the subjects in most cases to detect it but obvi liberal “nwo” propaganda laden.
Ironic that a giant road that crosses a whole continent suddenly comes to a stop at a town called Turbo.
RUclips channel "Turbo Steps" is from that city
I kinda found that funny too
Makes you think there should be a giant ramp right beyond it.
and then another town called Visa(Yavisa) as well lol
it's a matter of perspective. If you are traveling from north to south America reaching turbo you dd find the name very accurate
Civil Engineer here: not only is the construction of a road a nightmare, but before that, immense permitting and surveying must be conducted. That means that every acre of the gap that would be used for a roadway must be surveyed by people or drones in this environment, which is its own issue.
🤔 architect here, and although my job isn't directly connected to building for transportation, I must still take into account the engineering disciplines civil and structural.
But for the placement of the road isn't is as simple as prefabricated columns and road ways? Much like they have done Bahrain (please check it out, type in Bahraini roadways or something, i did see it about a decade ago), the temperature there easily soars into the 40-45°c region and they also are a tropical climate, only difference is they're a desert.
Idk but I'm sure, if all the pieces were made offsite, somewhere comfortable, with A.C and a shopping mall, the surveying and setting up the roads has to be done on site, permits are nothing more than receiving permission, it should be straight forward to build, no?
I think the political reasons are the deciding factor as to why the darian straight hasn't been completed.
Give us a call, will do it.
Hey I'm considering civil engineering as my major. What's the day to day job like?
We need to the call the Chinese bruh 😅
@@sandrajones8245 it's not as simple as that but I do think political factors are a major deciding factor for this.
If the Darien Gap was American territory there would already be a 6 lane highway plowing through
On god no cap
Your roads are build like pure shit tho, i really doubt it
to be honest based better to ve road then no road at all
And McDonalds throughout the area
The US has wanted one for a long time, but cooler heads have prevailed because it keeps South American diseases from entering the north.
Some RUclipsrs walked it recently and got caught in Panama and were deported by bus to Costa Rica. They said it was absolute hell.
A day without Starbucks is probably hell for these idiots.
@@changer_of_ways_999😂
"oh no, i was put in a bus and i couldn't reach my death, and not even in a limousine!!! this is hell!!"
Another big reason why there is no hurry to build a highway through the gap is that it functions as something of a firebreak for holding back the spread of hoof-and-mouth disease and screwworm to North American agriculture. The US, Mexico, and Panama maintain an extensive program of spreading sterile screwworm flies in the Gap to keep outbreaks south of the border.
I've always heard that and the environmental damage as the main reasons why it hasn't been made. I'm surprised neither was mentioned. Though the reasons given were also compelling.
The fundamental reason is Panama is a breakaway province of Columbia. Politics beats the environment every time.
@@ClydeFrog13 what environmental damage? its a narrow strip of land. idiot environmentalists love to blow everything out of proportion.
@@ClydeFrog13 The environmental issue definitely 100% should've been mentioned. Environmentalists obviously don't have as much power as governments but pretty much all of them worldwide see it as one of the few remaining completely wild areas and are against fucking that up. Even a single road or railway can lead to major issues for some animals and cut their ranges dramatically.
5:35
I am from Panama. What is going on in Darien is way worst than what is being reported and unscrupulous people and organizations are profiting from it.
That being said, I hope the gap is never opened. We are a third world country with incompetent authorities that will sell us out to cartels and guerrillas in a second.
Thanks for the honesty, gracias hombre
What is happening there ? Now, you report the truth.
But dude, you are fine with America keeping their cartel and propping up this artificial country? Think of WHY there is so much violence? It is all American influence. Geopolitics takes advantage of the propaganda that makes people fight for artificial tribes and nations that are nothing more than the borders generated by "players". We the humans need to care about each other more deeply and become one tribe.
@@tbraghavendran mind your own. you guys have a lot to fix in own your country
@@LifeOdysseyMotivation why not just know it?
As a panamenian, this video is surprisingly accurate. We don't want the Darien Gap to be opened and the reasons given here are pretty on point.
@@whitewolf30f nope that's call money... they are poor and when they get to the US they will claim benefits.... i want more socalism in the US so i understand they will need to close the borders more
Is accurate until the point of the Hay-Bunau Varilla treaty. The government of Panama did not participate in the treaty. And that was the intention.
@@DarkShroom then go live in south america where there is socialism. Leave america.
@@DarkShroomyou want more socialism because you’re a bum
as an american, I've been to panama on a civil mission when i was in high school. my family is mexican, and Panama is a beautiful country. I stayed in Panama City and traveled to la escuela estado de minnesota. We helped them with supplies so much they changed the name of their school to my state's name. amazing people.
I briefly worked on one of the many proposals for an electrical grid interconnection point between Panama and Colombia, and even that, with HVDC terminals way outside the gap, connecting underwater, is still such an unbelievable expensive and complicated endeavor that I don’t see it ever getting done either. Personally as a Panamanian that has worked in Darien, I don’t see the gap ever getting closed. Another thing that went unmentioned in this video is that the area where the gap exists is home to several indigeous groups that are fairly well protected by our laws and basically self rule themselves, and have no intentions of getting their millennial homeland destroyed. That said, many of these groups also benefit massively by the drug trade, enabling and assisting traffickers through their lands.
And this is not even mentioning the immigration concerns already existing in panama due to the massive and unregulated migration of colombians in the 90s and venezuelans in the 2000s. It’s all so very complicated and we have plenty of other things to worry already…
How do the Darrien gap natives benefit from the drug traffickers? I would just assume they have no choice but to comply under their threats of violence etc.
@@MariosPOS I used to work on yachts in the area. The Kuna people who control the Panama side sell the traffickers fuel for massive mark ups. They will hide a bunch of barrels on an island for the traffickers to refuel. Occasionally you'll see huge plumes of Diesel smoke from the security forces blowing them up.
@@MariosPOS the "drug traffick" had been the heart blood of the natives since before Europeans became a factor.
So it's the same game with bigger prizes and different markets.
That's why US had never eliminated it.
@@MariosPOSI obviously don’t have any verifiable information, just stuff I heard from the locals at times, but as far as I understand all or most of the interactions are more or less business-like in mutual benefit, I would assume violence is not sustainable in the long run. And as far as I understand its either holding onto merchandise, guiding transport groups through difficult treks or like, _diving up cargo dropped from boats on the coast_ to like avoid coastal guards and shit.
I didn't know about the indigenous people, yet another reason to dig a tunnel instead!
Geopolitical issues aside, I think it's great that there's still an area untouched by the modern world. Not implying that this is the only area like that, but there needs to be some blank spots on the map.
it's full of modern trash left by people
I think we should tactical nuke it. People won't want to traverse it if it's full of radiation.
The Sahara desert
We should probably still connect it. Just maybe we could use a bridge? Better security, easier to build, doesn't touch the jungle.
@@timotheataea one hundred kilometer bridge that doesn't touch the jungle is a tough project. The only way is along the coast. At that point making a coastal road would be much cheaper and easier. Bridges need supports (so jungle would be disturbed) and a road to get supplies there is needed if the route isn't coastal.
Fun fact Darien’s lethal environment is why Scotland lost its independence to England. Scotland’s attempt to bridge Atlantic to Pacific trade pre-Canal, and get stinking rich, bankrupted Scotland when all their people sent to develop a road in Darien died.
stupid economic decisions are underrated in the histories on how empires fall
see also: John Law, and how he crippled the French economy
another Scotsman btw
I saw the Adam ruins everything episode on that
Panama is the reason why the UK exists
is this a joke
It played a role but the Darien scheme wasn't the only reason.
Just FYI, hardening concrete in a wet environment is not only not difficult, but it's actually incredibly easy with the right concrete chemistry, since there are water hardening concretes that will harden more the wetter they get. This is what they use for building bridges and dams. The real issue is with ensuring it doesn't crack (self healing concrete is also a thing to help this), because water getting into any rebar lattice holding the concrete together will rust it apart and cause the slab to spall.
Yeah, that part is completely off. Almost the entire Panama have the same problem of humidity and heat, and the roads around the country are just fine.
@@byhyew Yea Practical Engineering (another channel that also posts to Nebula) has a video on this from just recently talking about concrete chemistry, a lot of his viewers also watch RLL, it seems like a number of people caught it and commented lol
@@TheOriginalFaxon I feel it's really more of a political decision. That Panama is wealthier and better off islanded off from the poorer but much bigger and stronger Colombia from where it broke off.
Indonesia successfully build their Trans-Sumatra toll road which the conditions were pretty much the same minus there are actually some minor settlement across the planned path.
The Chinese can build a 6 lane freeway in a few months if given the chance.
Just a little correction: the mountains in the gap are not higher than those in Australia, they are 400m lower than mt Kosciuszko
Lies
It's actually true, because Australia is a government psy-op
Just..... ONE correction?
RealLifeLore makes up stuff all the time. They are try-hard intellectuals
1700 to 1800 meter prominence is pretty impressive but 1800~ mountain peaks are hardly anything special i spent most of my childhood in a high valley thats way above 1800 meters
The Panama canal construction was a French project in the late 1800's that failed due to lack of funding. The USA took over the proyect in 1904. Oh!! And Panama's independence was from Spain in the early 1800's, but Panama became part of the Great Colombia for protection, however, that protection came at a very high price to the Panamanians that desided to separate from it. There is a lot more on the Torrijos - Carter treatie, but that is a story for another day, but overall, great video. Thank you 👍
The French attempt failed because they couldn’t handle the mosquito-born diseases.
It wasn't just funding, illness was the biggest problem, yellow fever in particular. America succeeded because we identified the cause of yellow fever and implemented a mosquito control system that enabled people to work. Everyone should remember the name Clara Maass, the nurse who sacrificed herself to prove mosquitoes were the source of yellow fever.
Why don't you make a video explaining?
A awful lot of people died creating the Panama Canal.
Ahh so Panama is a unsatisfied woman that breaks from one relationship to go to another then hates that one to jump into another then demand to be single🤣💯
I've seen a video about the geographical challenges of the Darien gap before, but knowing the political climate in the area really adds a lot to the story!
Yeah. If only the us would legalize drugs and help stabilize the drug market instead of complaining of how many emigrants leave due to drug wars and colonialism...
This is true, I heard if the Darian gap before and its geographical and engineering challenges, which in todays world the geographical challenges are are far less daunting, and the engineering is simple.
But the political is where the point stands firm. If they were saying they want our jobs, blah blah blah, I would say they're being racist, but since the fight is against narcotics, they're completely justified in not finishing the road.
Although stopping drugs by road is as simple as upping security, this costs money, one thing neither the US, Mexico, or Panama has
@@sandrajones8245 no money? 700 billion on defense. Lowest taxed population. Companies bank rolling lawyers to find loopholes. No money tho.
@@assaqwwq I don't want to get too much into this, but something tells me the usa is living hand to mouth.
In writing, so idk if it's true or not, they say their in $30T debt, and practically the usa has so many homeless people.
If the usa had money, they would take care of their homeless, not charge so much in medical bills, lower the costs of education, invest in infrastructure and take care of their society.
Even their military (which they spend billons on) after the soldiers come home a lot of them end up homeless and have to fend for themselves.
Nah, the usa has money, but they're on a tight budget.
@@sandrajones8245 in the US, a majority of our tax dollars go to everything but US citizens. We just send a hundred billion dollars to Ukrainian for more war. We sent isreal 3 billion dollars every day. They talk about our overinflated military budget. Well, we are the world Police. We end up training soldiers for other countries. Not to mention, the president is a global puppet that had sex with kids on Epstein island.
one thing: common misconception that you need a cell signal to accurately know your location via Google Maps. If you download the map area ahead of time, your phone has a GPS receiver that operates independently from cell service and with a clear view of the sky (regardless of cell service) you can know your location on the planet at all times.
Truth. I used it when exploring Guatemala a few years ago.
Until you run out of batteries lol you are best with paper map and a compass like the good old times for a trip that could last weeks or months
@@franciscoherrera3155 i have a solar panel that charges a battery that can charge my phone
@@franciscoherrera3155
Solar, hand crank, etc.
@@GuacamoleyNacho Google your phone model, or check to see if you have a "location" setting, and try to use Google maps.
As a Colombian I would really doubt Colombia would be willing to conquer panama at any point, Venezuela, Ecuador and parts of Brazil were also Colombian territory, and Colombia has never tried to retake them in the last century (as much as I am aware of) and specially because the US is the biggest Colombian ally in modern geopolitics. And with the centralized structure of the government I would doubt it would be managed properly (that's why they lost it too so yeah).
Colombia's issues also lie in wars with multiple guerrilla groups since more than 50 years ago, even with a "peace treaty" with "las FARC" that was made a couple years ago, it made that the individuals that didn't agree with them got separated from the main lead and make even smaller groups, so the war is not really over and there are other groups remaining, but the main problem is the crazy amounts of people that had to leave their homes and lands to not get killed by drug cartels and guerrilla conflicts. So if it was not enough with the drugs and war we have a really divided political demographic making progress really difficult, so making a decision to invade an allied country in this state is extrememy unlikely.
And we are also a "strategic ally" for NATO since 2022, which implies in case of a war NATO would aid us (or viceversa) with military supplies and resources. So attacking a US ally (panama) which is also our ally and NATO's would not be wise at all. And tbh it lacks any purpose and in the long term they would get independence again at some point for the geographical gap and cultural differences.
A south american war would be more likely to happen with venezuela being a Russian and chinese ally, so in case of a world war that would be definitely a point of conflict. Another option would be when natural resources like water get so scarce that it requires bigger forces to conquer other ones in order to survive, in that case colombia would definitely would be invaded from other powers, even the US if needed.
But that's just my point if view.
Great video, nice job
RealLifeLore is pure nonsense you shouldn't believe anything his annoying voice says
He meant that the geopolitical situation could change and Panama wanted no risks. Yeah modern Colombia doing it is laughable since there is good relations, but countries went from friendly to mortal enemies before.
@@stephenjenkins7971 When you fart what does it smell like?
We haven't tried in the last century because we were busy killing each others in the internal conflicts, but in the early 19th there were some wars aganist Ecuador over the ownership of Pasto, so I would say that there's precedent
@@danielutriabrooks477 yeah, that's true but for modern south america the relationships between countries aside from Venezuela are good, we don't know what could happen in the next 60-100 years but for the current situation I really doubt Colombia of all countries would decide to invade a neighbor, the drugs and political corruption / stagnation has really damage the progress. But with the Colombian army has a lot of power due to the drug wars too, so who knows
I'm so glad that I found this channel. I'm in Europe and never heard of this. Extremely educational and well done.
In 1961, Chevrolet took 3 1961 Corvairs thru the Darien Gap. Search "Daring the Darien" to watch a GM promotional film about that trip, keeping in mind that GM downplayed the disease aspect of the trip. One of the cars is still in the jungle somewhere, as it was too damaged to bring back home. Great video, RLL.
These days, you could easily get one or a thousand Jeep Rubicons through there.
@@whitewolf30f how deep is that river? It's pretty wide. Not sure a Rubicon could handle it.
@@ThePrufessa rivers usually arent that deep, but what is deep is the dense forest and high mountains
They broke some Corvairs climbing Stone Mountain too.
I guess if a Corvair could do it, most modern AWD vehicles would easily cross the Darien Gap.
Great video. One thing though. Google maps with preloaded maps, or another offline oriented map app, work 100% fine without cell service. GPS is global and doesn't require internet.
I wish more people understood this.
Yeah, it's trivial to navigate with just GPS if someone has surveyed the route before.
People like to assume Google Maps is the only way, but in fact it's complete garbage for doing anything besides making money for Google.
The only issue might be carrying 10 days worth of batteries.
Also, satellite phones are a real thing nowadays. You can even text people. About the only thing you're not going to have is high data rates nowadays with technology
@@GregHassler I use it on the plane to see where I’m at. I just open maps and it know where you are in the country even in airplane mode
@@highonahill Services now exist with networks that provide GPS location and texting on your cell phone without any connection to a cell network or towers. You don't even need a sat phone.
I was actually on an expedition through the darien gap last month and the conditions there were equal to hell so you´re hella right to say that it is hard to cross. I could not make it all the way cause of nursea(8 out of 13 gave up due to bad health conditions) ,still it was a nice experience and the enviroment is one of a kind :)
Saludos desde Panamá :)
I’ve never heard Hell described as a “nice experience” before. Interesting…
how did you get out?
@@markstahl1464 he mentions he did an expedition, not the route the immigrants do. Some people do scientific research in Darién and they spent days there. Some others like extreme adventure. Lets wait his tale.
Must be nice, you going where a bunch of homeless emigrants fight to survive. Happy you had that experience, sorry you didn't stay there... Bad health... My ass...
4:55 Concrete doesn't dry, it cures. In fact, allowing concrete to dry out as it cures will cause damage. In dry climates you need to keep the surface wet for several days.
They make concrete that will set under water, so really the rain is not a huge problem. The heat and humidity is however.
The problems is we america and canada just fuck up with too many immigrants
So money and equipments won't still help build a road through it?
@@hifdzillahkohler2375my parents seconds after becoming citizens
@@why-hf6gcas they should be, as a citizen having less people coming in benefits you too
@@Gargoyle_911nnhow does living in a fantasy world benefit me?
In Spanish it's called "el tapón del Darién", meaning, "the Darien plug or stopper". Very straightforward.
@@facta-non-verba y? Cual es el problema con eso? Te afecta en algo? Los problemas de Panamá los resolveremos los panameños.
@@ajavier7634 Lo que pasa es que en el video se muestra como si Panama fuera muchisimo mejor que el resto de latinoamerica cuando en realidad no lo es xd
@@reyalfa18 no se en que parte entendiste eso? A mi me da igual si es mejor o no, peroblos problemas internos que Colombia a tenido porque siglos no los tenemos y no los queremos.
Amazing video! Side note, as a Dominican I hate the hypocrisy in my country over illegal immigrants. Our people hate on Haitians who are looking for a better life yet they turn a blind eye when it is their family moving to the States for the same reason. Luckily now the DR is in a much better place than before, hopefully more people stay.
Same here in Slovakia bro, everyone hates the immigrants coming from Ukraine and Middle East, yet they even wish good luck and encourage people moving to the west like the UK or Germany
Sorry to hear that but glad to hear your country is improving. I’d love to visit someday.
Unfortunately, people all over the world are hypocrites when it comes to immigration. In my country the people who tell us the land was stolen from the native peoples are the same people who say we have to open the borders to allow the world in.
They love the native people. They hate the other people who were born here and They love the people who want to migrate here.
Is it safe to visit?
@@ChineduOpara yeah DR is safe to visit, obviously depends where u go but the touristic places are safe
@@miggygetright6344 Which city and zone is safest, in general? Do you know?
The Darien Gap! One of my favorite things to learn about!
but wouldn't be your favorite thing to walk through 😂
By people who know nothing but give opinions 😅
sad to see that pristine nature being soiled by trash left by the illegal migrants.
Wait, why is that?
@@darealberrygarciain my opinion, walking thru the gap is not a good idea
Man, your channel is great. I've read and listened to this issue by latin americans (I'm argentinian) and while most of us focus on the humanitarian part of the problem, it's hard to grasp how all the factors weight into the decition to let the Darien be what it is. Now, your video made me utter "the gringo understands!" because, man, people in other places that are unaffected by this situation simply not only don't care but don't understand! Is so refreshing seeing how you understand it from the perspective of the different nations that I'm really happy to see it explained in a concise and interesting way, with images to illustrate it. Great great work, man, thank you!
"the gringo understands!" took me out 😂😂😂
If you call me Gringo, can I call you wetback?
Argentinians are literally Gringos to every other country in Latin America.
You are the best! Geopolitics is so important
I agree
I disagree
@@nealrigga6969 why?
@@Sora97 get those illegal aliens out of my country
I agree
This and the most recent video on Mexico’s mountainous geography have been top tier. Thank you so much for the work you do and the content you provide!
You mean top tier Propaganda 👍🏻
@@darealberrygarcia what's propaganda in this video? genuine question as I'm not from these areas to know myself
@@ethereal_catt These channel isn't all that accurate, they often get things wrong. I have no idea how it could be considered propaganda though, especially this video
I suppose because they put USA as either the hero or the victim
As a Panamanian, I find funny the fact that he didn’t mention at all the true reason why USA lost, yes, LOST the Canal. Zonian aka “American” students refused to put Panama’s flag in the Canal Zone. There was even a treaty that established it, they just simply didn’t want to. Panamanian students went into the Canal Zone, with permission and a flag in hand, Zonian students started to fight them, the US military intervened, and that’s how the riots started. Panamanian citizens defended themselves with stones while US army was shooting at them. A total of 22 Panamanian students were killed. We could actually say that our only student shooting was in fact caused by the US.
Everyone who was wondering why the Aztec and Incan empires couldn't have met each other, here's why
The south American tribes got there somehow so I guess it wouldn't have been impossible. The distance itself was probably more of a factor but the Darien gap would've made it even more unlikely.
Not the Incas and Aztecs though, but there were other tribes that came to Mesoamerica from South America and met with other tribes, the chibchas crossed the Darién and came here before European arrival.
@@abelramirez7320 Pretty sure the distance between Rome and China was far bigger but they did manage to at least trade indirectly with each other.
And the problem was precisely that. There was a lot of hostile and untrusty tribes roaming in dense and extremely hostile rainforests. Incas and aztec were EMPIRES and therefore, needed a whole political, military, architectonic and economic system to back them up. They weren't high-mobility small tribes, who could afford living there. Even the spanish had to go around by sea to South America.
Not the aztecs but maybe the "golden age" mayans could have, as recent evidence of lost island colonies show they probably had seafaring technology. Also the aztecs were not even close to the darrien gap, their territory pretty much ended were the jungle starts
@@leonake4194 Andean people indeed had a considerable naval technology (having developed sails and rudders) and the farthrest distance in which the Incan empire was known was precisely Panama. So you could have a point.
Even it was proposed that some cultural influences in the Andes and west Amazonia came from the Mayan region thousands of years before the Incas
How our parrents describe their commute to school:
real.
It’s crazy to see how much this channel has improved over time, I’ve been watching for years and every video is just as entertaining as the last.
Are you his mom? He is getting more into more difficult political videos and I don't think he's doing well. Most of what the US knows about Latin America is straight from the State department.
Tons of fake facts and just simply made up stuff to fit their scripts but sure I guess its entertaining
Just be aware that a lot of the basic facts are incorrect despite being presented with strong conviction.
@@seanhedgpeth2109 how are you in Beijing? Or Moscow? Any ways, the political videos aren’t often flawed but they are often not remotely pro US therefore I’m wondering of the huge bias you have.
@@darealberrygarcia the two biggest and probably only real factor in why they didn’t connect South America to North America is that it’s too expensive to build and Maintain roads through the gap and the second reason is the huge negative impact to the environment. This video is much like most of their videos in the past year - way too alarmist and often exaggerating things such as stating the US is the reason a road hasn’t been built through the gap.
Was thinking about this yesterday, the answer is clearly a costal "bridge" road on the gulf side
I was wondering why they just don't go around it too.
@@Gebri3l because both countries are lazy
@@Gebri3l yeah, right !?
I've been seeing a lot of content about the Darien gap in recent weeks or moths. NY Times podcast (The Daily) had an episode on a a reporter who did the travel through the Darien gap with migrants. It was tough. They saw at least one dead body. The major problems they discussed is that it's often hilly (ups and downs), muddy, streams, insects, very hot and humid, and not close to any civilization if you get sick or injured. And that's usually how the deaths occur - a person gets sick or injured and cannot go any further and succumbs to the conditions. They ran into one 9yr old child separated from her mother and being looked after by one of the men making the trip. The reporter falls behind to see if she can cross path with the mother. She does. The woman has blisters and possibly infections in her feet and could not keep up. She lost her daughter near some hill. if those blisters or infections were any worse, it could be her body that others see later on.
Hi. What's the name of the episode or do you have a link that you could possibly post or share?
Tropical disease wreaking havoc on construction workers was also a problem for the Panama Canal. Walter Reed, a name that may be recognizable from a US military hospital in the DC area, was noted for research on yellow fever which was helpful to the successful canal project.
As a Brazilian, i found the people "fleeing" sao paulo to colombia part pretty funny 😂
I feel just as you do. I have visited São Paulo on many occasions and São Paulo is just like New York. You can get anything that you need there. No reason to move. I thought that was interesting as well.
@@Dbo_Sports they are just Fortune seekers from africa. If you are ready to risk your life for a higher wage and better living no one is obligied to feel sorry for you, you made that decision
yeah, that was pretty stupid hahahaha americans view latin america like we're all lowly insects trying to transform into real humans by going to the amazing us of a
@felipe if your saopaolo is like new york then explain why the ppl are fleeing to usa?
Indeed, most of the human movement occurs in the inverse way.
I feel like I’ve seen this one somewhere before…
It was the video where he talked about a road that connected the entire planet or at least one that allows you to drive from South Africa to Argentina and Chile
And a video on the Darien gap a couple years ago
Yeah, he did this same video 3 years ago.
Yah its an update to an old video
This topic has been rehashed many times.
@@soundscape26 =AHHHH,REUPLOAD
...............................
5:26 - 5:35 Thank you RealLifeLore!
😁😁😁😁😁😁😁
Amazing story about something I have never known anything about. Very helpful, thankyou, job well done.
For those of you wondering, he did a video of this a while a back. It’s called “What If We Built a Road around the World,” also some of his videos are remakes of videos he did almost 3-5 years ago such as the North Sentinel Island video for example.
This is not about a road around the world. On the video your talking about, he wasn't just talking about this specific area. Don't be surprised if he comes out with " whst if we build a bridge across Mediterranean" which he also mentioned on the video you mentioned. "
Sadly after so many topics the creativity starts to drop. It’s commonplace on RUclips
Let’s build a railroad around the world instead
There was a proposal for a coast road raised on concrete piers along the shore line of the Caribbean. It would be in effect the longest over pass in the world. It would literally stand on the beach and in the mangroves just 2 meters above the sea. In some places it would touch land only enough to create a base area for maintenance crews and a food and toilet stop. Needless to say the proposal came from someone that engineers bridges and over passes. The sea breeze would help keep the mosquitoes and other lethal bugs at bay.
The Chinese would build it.
That could be a good option.
For what purpose? It's far cheaper to use ships to move produce and the only human traffic is largely unwanted. Such a highway would cost a fortune to build and to maintain - so who's going to foot the bill?
@@smgdfcmfah Have the drug traffickers pay for it.
Train would be the cheapest method of transport. I'd vote for train access only.
I visited Yaviza 15 years ago on a mission trip. While the Darien Gap is harsh, it's still quite beautiful, especially coming from a place like the Great Plains of the United States. I took so many pictures of just the massive amounts of jungle trees because there were so few trees back home. Also, pretty much everyone in Yaviza lived in a shack, the roads in the town were essentially wide sidewalks since they were made of concrete, but sometimes on those roads you would see someone driving a brand new Nissan Pathfinder. One day, some members of our group, including me, went out into the jungle to help clear land for a farm. We put so much insect repellent on ourselves that we basically had a bath in insect repellent and washed our clothes in insect repellent. We also learned how to say "Don't shoot" in Spanish, though thankfully we never had to use it.
Even the bugs and insects in that area speaks Spanish and learn to use firearms, huh. Gotcha, Darien Gap region's hostility is no joke.
@@jancukasu sorry, I should have been more specific. The Darien Gap can and has been home to armed conflict, though there have not been problems for years. One group in particular being responsible for most of it is the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia, or FARC. One of the most recent, if not most recent, incidences comes from 2013. A Swedish backpacker named Jan Philip Braunisch left the Columbian town of Riosuscio, saying he wanted to attempt to cross the Darien Gap in foot into Panama via the Cuenca Cacarica, but he disappeared. FARC admitted they killed him, thinking him to be a foreign spy.
@@nathaniellong4281 I was joking there my man. Btw poor Swedish guy.
There’s a quick and simple answer: There’s no way in hell the US would allow or want that.
Democrats would
The U.S. Isn't Typically The Sharpest.
@@tylerbonser7686 Donald Trump believes that people who crossed the Darien Gap can be stopped by a 10 feet high wall.
True story. After I got about of the army, I was a drunken hobo living in my car which, you can imagine ends with crossing law enforcement eventually. Arrest for DUI in Virginia, got bail, got car out of impound. Decides to keep drinking, and chose to skip my court date. Where was I? Driving through North Carolina, after deciding I would hide out in Venezuela since there is no extradition. Had no passport, no luggage, a backseat full of empty booze bottles. I expected to make it too! That damn GPS seemed to be broken, wouldn’t let me set a route to Caracas, where I would live like a king! 🤦♂️Google learned me a lesson that day.
16:57 that's simply not true
you can use google maps without the internet, simply by pre-downloading the map, and tracking your location with GPS. no internet required
Also you can presumably still use Satellite based SOS signals
@@xryeau_1760 i'm not really aware of those, can you clarify?
i know of satellite phones, tho they are very expensive (both the device itself, and payment plan to even make calls with it), so i'd assume a person in such desperate situation probably couldn't afford one..
I appreciate that real life lore probably could have ended the video after 5:18 ‐ 5:37 but he didn't, he gives us all the juicy details. Thank you, RealLifeLore ❤
Ugh stop being so cringe its bad for your health. This is whats called "info-tainment" ... Do you not understand they push a biased agenda by NGO sponsors smh hahaha
I see what you did there
@@krioni86sa Yeah I rewound a couple times lol
8 mins is the minimum time to monetize a video with ads (On top of their sponsor) Its not out of the goodnes of their hearts; content creation is a business.
@@tanybrachid Whoosh
*Fact: a COPA airlines plane crashed in the Darien gap and was one of the hardest plane wreckage’s to find due to the location*
Steve-O and Chris Pontius crossed the Darien Gap. Pontius said it was one of the most frustrating things that he's glad he's done but would never want to do again.
.....hey @Groom of the Stool.....do you like wiping your leader's ass ?? Does the sight and smell want you to eat a big plate of runny, scrambled eggs ??
Your name is hilarious 😂
did u make this up?
@@ehoc5248it was on an episode of Wild Boyz lol
RealLifeLore, I commend you for bringing these modern problems to light. I feel like it is easy to brush over the current state of our world because it isn't covered by the news or because it's just too confusing to understand. You make these issues accessible and engaging. I've learned a lot from your videos and wish the schools I attended took advantage of this content.
He also conveniently brought up the colonialism of one nation and left out the socialist government of another, while trying to describe the reasons for their current impoverished & sad civil situation.
@@MR-nl8xr Haiti also doesn't have an average IQ that is high enough to sustain it's population. The challenges required to bring them up to standards with the Dominican Republic are insurmountable. I can understand why most countries turn a blind eye to that part of the world apart from disaster relief.
@@LordZordid We'd all have that same problem too if we had to make fried pancakes out of dirt.
@@MR-nl8xr I know people who each year spend an entire summer and millions of donated dollars setting up self-sustaining agriculture for the locals. And every year when they returned everything was ripped apart and destroyed. So they started from scratch again and again and again. They literally did everything they could next to running it themselves. After many years they finally gave up.
It's easier and cheaper now just to send food.
@@LordZordid SMH.
@2:41 the tallest mountain in Australia is Mt Kosciusko which is 2,228m above sea level
Still pretty small compared to other countries lol
@@IWantToStayAtYourHouse yes but taller than the mountain that he incorrectly said was taller than any mountain in Australia
@vanderkok Estonia?
@vanderkok Suur Munamägi?
10:16 you mentioned that Costa Rica is "generally ranked as being the single most stable country in the whole of NA". You should really make a video about why CR is doing so much better than its regional peers in terms HDI, Democratic Freedoms, Life Expectency, etc.
i remember when this video was first posted and emphasized in the roughness of the terrain over the much much rougher geopolitical obstacles that makes the darien gap also known in spanish as the darien's plug (tapon del darien)
I started following this channel during the height of the pandemic and never looked back. Thanks for the very interesting topics as always, RealLifeLore! More power! Keep the videos coming!
Had a friend tell me his story from Bangladesh to America !! Literally told me this EXACT story (with many more crazy details). So cool to have it verified like this !
How many other laws did he break?
Have you reported him to the authorities?
@@David-ud9ju of course
@@PROVOCATEURSK 🤣🤣
@@David-ud9ju 🤣🤣
Another thing to mention is that the Darien gap is not only home to dangerous animals but also to indigenous people, and they are savages. I am Venezuelan, so I know people who have walked the gap, and I have heard many stories of how indigenous people rape, kill, and kidnap people with little regard for material things, although they sometimes demand sex and cash for safe passage.
The cartel/guerrilla asks for money for passage, but the indigenous people outright rape and kill if they feel like it. Bear in mind that these indigenous people are not jungle people; they have modern weapons and clothes and have some relationship with the local guerilla groups, but they are their own thing.
RLL is on a tear - keep it up! 3rd video in what, a week? Lot a love from Portugal and always nice to see a new upload!🎉
If hundreds of thousands of people manage to cross it every year, it's hard to believe it's THAT difficult to cross.
But how many loose their life? Say what you like but they bypass it if they can by water. That costs them and if you happen to fall overboard so what. Maybe they tossed you after they got your money. It's a lawless area and your life means nothing. So
Maybe you should do a. Adventure tour and cross it. I sure as hell wouldn't want to try or think it's easy or doable. Ever been in a swamp or marsh with gators? How about the FL glades? That would only give you a taste of what they conveyed.
How many of them die trying or end up dying afterwards from what the gap did to them?
The point is that there'd be probably millions (not "just" hundreds of thousands) if it weren't that difficult. "difficult" is a relative term. You need to keep that in mind..
As an example, is becoming a professional basketballer difficult? Probably. But there are probably several tens of thousands of them worldwide. That doesn't mean it's not difficult to become a professional basketballer.
They aren’t walking across people are helping them by charted boats. This video is BS.
@@thetapheonixIf its BS, tell me why they haven’t built a road connecting america. Create a better reason rhan the video if its “BS”
Very interesting for me as an European, never heard of that gap. We have the issue with migrants in the mediteranian sea, where the people come with non-sea-capable boats and drown regularly, it is a sad story.
Don't understand me wrong, I think we should to help people in need, but we can't help everyone from everywhere.
That's why foreign policy is so important and why things like the UN exist. Just need the UN to actually do something.
It's just so unfortunate how the US and parts of Europe invaded and colonized and took all of these countries resources and left them so unstable and poor. Imagine if they were more fair with them from the get go how much more prosperous these countries would be, thus not as many of them need to migrate to US or Europe :(
Well, EU is not willing to do anything about it as long as Turkiye is holding them. Even though we kept vast majority of them in Turkiye you still have issues with what you got. EU needs to take initiative and do something serious about it if you don't want flocks of people coming through your border. The situation in Turkiye is about to change.
@@JayForsure before we arrived these countries were uncivilised and occupied by warring tribes. We don't owe anyone shit.
@@JayForsure as a latín American that's pretty much the case, if it wasn't Europeans colonizing us, it was the US directly intervening in the political affairs putting puppet governments to control south america. Geographically latín América has huge potential with it's resources, climate and water.
But luckily we are in a way better state than Africa, they truly are a no man's land, the colonialism truly destroyed everything there.
Oh American dream... I've lived myself in the streets in the US, and now it's been 2 years of living back in South America, like many other Americans fleeing violence IN AMERICA. Your maps are really impressive and the narrator catches our attention with his enthusiasm, but oughta update your concepts recognising America is a Concept not a Territory 😉
3:38 Thank you for using the word 'plethora'; it means 'a lot' to me.
Just a little note that the highest point in Australia is Mount Kosciuszko at 2228m, a little higher than the highest point in the Darién Gap.
I once farted on the set of blue lagoon
Very little warming is predicted in the tropics. And any that has happened in the last 30-odd years has been much less than the models predicted. Most warming is likely to occur much further north, where all the industries lie.
Seeing the people carrying their children is breaking my heart 😢 can you imagine how desperate they must be
The U.S. is like their El Dorado or Shangri-La, I just hope they're not too disappointed.
Past of the reason they travel here (people never seem to talk about the "WHY") is that we, the United States, places crippling economic sanctions on their countries. This is part of the way we overthrow "unfriendly" governments. Do you know how many times the United States interfere on THEIR elections process? Remember when we told Venezuela, "Oh this guy Juan Gauido is gonna be your President?" LMAO Nobody in the United States even blinked an eye over here thinking that was such a normal thing to do.
@Jarjoobinko Then call border control ASAP
@@jarjoobinko Open your door and touch grass.
Reasons are more political & territorial security more than geographical & economical reasons..& it really make sense..
I really appreciate the detail you went into in this video. It was an eye opener.
I worked on tourist yachts between Cartagena and Panama in 2010. We occasionally be boarded by Blackhawks from either Panama special forces or the US coast guard who were a long way from home.
when your life is incredibly sad and hard, that crossing darien gap is just another obstacle
Errr don't be an illegal migrant then
500,000 thru the Darien gap, that’s only like 1/7th of the people coming over each year now.
I often wondered why the Darien gap still exists, but now I know. Awesome video
Thanks for explaining all the issues the Gap affects. I wonder what the fatality rate is amongst people attempting the crossing?
Panamanian here. It’s a difficult number to keep track of. I’ve read testimonies of survivors. It is almost part of the journey to find a body or several on your crossing. One testimony said that his group saw a family, or presumed, floating down a river. Another testimony was from a Venezuelan uncle who was in a group that was attacked by a Colombian guerrilla, they killed his niece and many others, he faked his death while being thrown is a hole with several bodies. He could escape that and take his niece’s body with him.
One thing we know, Joe Biden does not care how many die.
@@eymiporahi As a southeast asian whose country is not covering a lot of international news much less south american events, it really gives new perspective to the phrase, this world is constantly spinning and there will always be things happening around you even if you don't see it.
@@eymiporahi its sad that this is all caused by the US allowing illegal immigration.
@@eymiporahi do the testimonies include why the people are being killed? Are the victims being robbed? And/or were the victims potentially following an unusual route, which was actually for drug traffickers?
The Darien Gap is extremely hard to cross and there are no roads... but 1,000 people per day cross it including children. So maybe not that hard as there are well established trails.
If you are intent on going all the way to the US, the rest of the journey is dangerous as well. So these migrants are desperate.
@@markjames8664if there are so desperate, why don’t they claim asylum in the next country like they are supposed to? These people will literally pass multiple countries to get to America bc we are stupid enough to take care of all these people. It’s the free benefits they know they are getting from the US.
Looks like the darian gap isn't keeping anyone back. Panama could simply make a security agreement with the us to protect against columbia and then finish the road. That would be a boon to economic development in that part of the world, and lessen columbia's economic dependence on drugs. The lack of this road is probably the single biggest reason for how underdeveloped Central america is.
Those are some serious mountains at 5:30
The 1957 book "20,000 Miles South--A Pan-American Adventure in a Sea-going Jeep from the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego" by Helen and Frank Schreider details how one small expedition crossed the gap in an amphibious jeep. Looks like things haven't changed in 75 years.
I wish we had such strong geographic features on our southern border.
Doesn't help that we moved that border from where it was before to expand slavery.
land mines work in other places.....
@@taino1642 Yes, great idea, let's put *weapons of war* on the border of a nation with which we have had no conflict for 175 years.
The problem, at its core, is that a bunch of rich assholes want their drugs for their huge rich asshole parties, but want to enslave the rest of us. The land mines should be put outside the homes of those rich assholes and their assets seized and redistributed by the government.
Or a wall?
@@doomsdayrabbit4398 I also like to just make things up 🙄
what i dont understand is if Colombia makes so much money from drug trade, why dont they spend that money on opening the gap? is it just easier for them to ship it to panama and then drive it north?
I'm Colombian and another reason to never buid a road is the vast biodiversity in the Darien. Colombia is the second most biodiverse country in the world and we must protect it. Also, we would never invade Panama lol
It’s sad to see all the garbage (trash) being left in that region.
2:40 FYI: Mount Kosciuszko is mainland Australia's tallest mountain, at 2,228 metres (7,310 ft) above sea level.
Great job for making content i didn’t even know i needed to watch 👏
Making that journey on foot is CRAZY. May whatever god they believe in bless them.
This is an interesting video to watch, given that my family is currently housing two migrants who crossed the gap last september. They are a father son pair from venezuala, and had to flee after all the jobs either dissapeared or had wages drop to under 10 dollars a month. the rest of their family is in columbia, and the pair made it into the US in october on an asylum visa, but the visa does not allow them to work, so they have to take under-the-table work to support the family in columbia. the whole situation is really tough for everyone involved.
Sounds like they need to go build up there own area..
Why didn’t they go to Panama? It would have been the first safe step away from Venezuela. There are tons of them here, making good money.
@@speed7bump Panama has increased its xenophobia against Venezuelans (more specifically the lower class people that are the ones in need to escape through the darien gap) year after year so most people avoid it due to that. The ones that usually make it in Panama and stay there tend to be what used to be middle class in Venezuela and had valuable degrees or experience.
@@speed7bumpagreed. Or Costa Rica. Or Mexico. Or El Salvador now. While I sympathize with people who had the bad luck to be a resident of a dumpster fire nation, why is it always the goal to try and migrate to the USA? If you’re an asylum seeker, you’re supposed to seek it in the first safe country that you arrive in. That’s arguably Colombia and most certainly Panama or Costa Rica for a Venezuelan.
I’ll put it this way. If we’re supposed to take all of their people and not ask questions, why not just dust their government and colonize them? Turn their country into a nation w/ similar legal status as Puerto Rico. Everyone would instantly become a US citizen.
@@Fermonx “increased its xenophobia”? Like it’s a dial that can be turned up and down? Buddy, if xenophobia is increasing here, it’s due to the new Venezuelan gangs trying to move in. Furthermore, xenophobia (which is a weird term, because it implies that the Panameños are afraid of them) does not mean the country is not safe for them. I know many of them, without degrees, who live and work here, and are members of the community.
With that still in mind, explain why it’s more prudent for them to continue on thousands of miles to the US, if they are moving due to security, and not financial gain?
An incredibly informative video; great job! (as always... But this one was particularly great!)
You forgot to mention which you already mentioned in the previous Darien Gap video is the potential of spreading hoof and mouth disease which still occur to cattle in South America while eradicated in Central and North America. Lack of roads prevented the spread of diseases.
And polio from USA to Brazil.
One error regarding the map, Suriname is also considered as a stable country and people are not moving away to the USA. Same goes for Guyana as far as I know.
I feel like the old Top Gear Trio should do this challenge in a 4x4 of their choosing. (That's Jeremy, Richard and James)
😂😂 they wouldn’t make it 😂😂
Grand Tour Special: Darien Gap lol
@@thedj5914 They have to the plot armour is too strong!
So much important information this episode.
I really love this channel 🤩
I’m surprised you didn’t talk about the obvious environmentalist issues with building a road in the middle of the Darian Gap.
Covered in the other video about building a road through the Darien Gap.
@@GregHassler but I think they should be covered again. I’m not too knowledgeable in the subject but there *has* to be a large environmentalist movement from someone like Greenpeace who is staunchly against building a road right through a pristine forest.
@@therealspeedwagon1451 environmentalists will whine about literally everything, i dont think anyone really wants to hear more from them
@@therealspeedwagon1451 I'm wondering if it would be okay to build a railway instead of a road since railways aren't as large and wildlife could go right through.
@@trollinator4838 that’s what I was thinking too. Besides railways are far more efficient than cars. Too bad the companies control the government and lobby against any anti-car law that makes them lose money.
作为一个中国大陆人，我自学的英语，居然全部听懂了， 很有成就感呢，哈哈。
Minor correction: The tallest mountain in Australia is over 2 kms tall
It does depend on what type of road you build, if it is elevated off the ground then it would be easy to control what goes in or out and would not be useful for invasion.
Nor useful for drug trafficking in any large quantities. Every truck would get searched.
A road would make the gap more effective for drug traffickers bc all police presence would be concentrated on the road n border crossing
This video is so well done, amazing job! Loved all the detailed explications, and incredibly easy to follow
17:10 far right???? You mean farleft...
No. Far right is the type of violence they face.
Did your audio change? Your voice sounds different (for the worse). But the video was fantastic as usual 🤘
Been noticing this as well, thanks for pointing it out!
Youre right, i feel like its sounds sharper
I think he got a new mic, it's really bad
I purchased a year subscription to nebula under your link just to support you. I probably won't even watch too many videos (other than the exclusives) on it. I just wanted to support my favorite RUclips creator :)
Why is nobody talking about the fact that Colombia has a town named Turbo ☠️
Same thought! I lover it!
.....guess you don't know about the town in West Virginia named Nitro........
ill bet its a good place to buy turbos, i should take my car there
thats cool.
Because nobody cares
One other point not fully fleshef out in this piece is that even if a road was built through this area, it would need CONSTANT maintenance and patrolling due to some of the reasons mentioned. This alone, alongside the massive investment to build to the road, must add to the decision not to build. Also, having an armed presence that close to Panama would not make them very happy.
Not gonna lie... 5:30 is a moving moment for me
Yes man I notice them as well, she has defo has a heavy set.
I recall watching the video on the "Journey of the Americas" in which they used some Jeep CJ-7 4WDs to drive through this Darian Gap as well. Then of course General Motors comical use of Chevrolet Corvairs to drive through this quagmire as well 😂.
Even Land Rover attempted driving it in their new Range Rovers back in their first release. They shredded axles left & right in that region.
I remember seeing an old Land Rover commercial where they actually crossed the gap but had to take thing apart for every river crossing, a road can be built if the will is strong enough.
I wonder if the shores would be easier.
I may be missing something, but couldn't a road be heavily guarded and strictly checkpointed way more easily than a swamp? Maybe Panama doesn't feel confident they can protect it against gangs? But gangs/migrants could still try to sneak around the road, so it seems like a road would mostly just benefit trade and tourism to me.