For decades, Panamanians and Colombians alike have dreamed of plugging the so-called Darién Gap, a vast borderland network of rainforests, mangroves and swamps lying smack in the path of the the 16,000-mile (25,500-km) Pan-American Highway's last remaining unbuilt section. The 69-mile (111-km) gap in the continental roadway, which runs from Fairbanks, Alaska to the southern tip of Chile, has long been seen as an impassable barrier preventing the movement of people and products between South and Central America. Only the most fearless have dared to cross the snake- and caiman-infested region by foot or dugout canoe. So when Colombia's presidential advisor Fabio Valencia told a June 6 meeting of the Organization of American States in Medellín that Colombia... [Log in to read more]
