Ticket to Nicaragua: African, Asian migrants seek shortcut to US

Panama City (AFP) - Nicaragua has become a hot spot for migrants from around the world seeking to avoid a brutal trek through the Darien Gap jungle -- including the 303 Indians whose plane was grounded last week in France on their way to the Central American nation. Migrants from South American and Caribbean countries, Africa and Asia, have long had to brave the lawless, virtually impassable rainforest that straddles Panama and Colombia, in a bid to reach the United States. However, analysts say that the government of Nicaragua's iron-fisted President Daniel Ortega, a longtime nemesis of the U...