The Embera-Wounaan and Guna are among five tribes, comprising 8,000 people, who have expressed concern that the road would bring about the potential erosion of their cultures by destroying their food sources. Cited reasons include evidence that the Darién Gap has prevented the spread of diseased cattle into Central and North America, which have not seen foot-and-mouth disease since 1954, and since at least the 1970s this has been a substantial factor in preventing a road link through the Darién Gap. Another effort to build the road began in 1992, but by 1994 a United Nations agency reported that the road, and the subsequent development, would cause extensive environmental damage. US support was further blocked by the US Department of Agriculture in 1978, from its desire to stop the spread of foot-and-mouth disease.

Planning began in 1971 with the help of American funding, but was halted in 1974 after concerns were raised by environmentalists. On the Panamanian side, the road terminus, for many years in Chepo, Panama Province, is since 2010? in the town of Yaviza at 8☉′N 77☄1′W / 8.150°N 77.683°W / 8.150 -77.683.Įfforts were made for decades to fill this sole gap in the Pan-American Highway. The Pan-American Highway is a system of roads measuring about 30,000 km (19,000 mi) long that runs north-to-south through the entirety of North, Central and South America, with the sole exception of a 106 km (66 mi) stretch of marshland and mountains between Panama and Colombia known as the Darién Gap. Map of the Darién Gap and the break in the Pan-American Highway between Yaviza, Panama and Turbo, Colombia By 2021 the number was more than 130,000. However, this route was taken by many thousands of migrants in the 2010s, primarily Haitian, to reach the United States, and in the 2020s thousands of Venezuelan migrants have crossed fleeing the crisis in the country.

Rapes and robberies are common, and a broken leg can be fatal, as there is no way to reach assistance. Law enforcement is non-existent and weather very rainy, causing frequent flash floods. It is possible to cross from Colombia to Panama by trail, but it is a very strenuous as well as dangerous route. Maize, cassava, plantains, and bananas are staple crops on local farms. The Darién Gap had a reported population of 8,000 in 1995 among five tribes. Other population centers include Yaviza and El Real. On the Panamanian side, La Palma, the area's cultural center, is the capital of the province. The Darién Gap is home to the Embera-Wounaan and Guna people and was also home to the Cueva people who became extinct by 1535, following the Spanish invasion of Panama. The Panamanian side, in stark contrast, is a mountainous rainforest, with terrain reaching from 60 m (197 ft) in the valley floors to 1,845 m (6,053 ft) at the tallest peak (Cerro Tacarcuna, in the Serranía del Darién). The Serranía del Baudó range extends along Colombia's Pacific coast and into Panama. The geography of the Darién Gap on the Colombian side is dominated primarily by the river delta of the Atrato River, which creates a flat marshland at least 80 km (50 mi) wide. As of 2023, there was no active plan to build a road through the gap, although there has been discussion of setting up a ferry service. Political consensus in favor of road construction collapsed after an initial attempt failed in the early 1970s, with a proposal in the early 1990s halted by serious environmental concerns. Road-building through this area is expensive and detrimental to the environment. The 'gap' is in the Pan-American Highway, of which 106 km (66 mi) between Yaviza, Panama, and Turbo, Colombia, have not been built. 'Darién plug') is a geographic region in the Isthmus of Darien or Isthmus of Panama connecting the North and South American continents within Central America, consisting of a large watershed, forest, and mountains in Panama's Darién Province and the northern portion of Colombia's Chocó Department. The Darién Gap ( UK: / ˈ d ɛər i ə n, ˈ d ær-/, US: / ˌ d ɛər i ˈ ɛ n, ˌ d ɑːr-, d ɑːr ˈ j ɛ n/, Spanish: Tapón del Darién, lit. The Darién Gap at the Colombia–Panama border

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