New wave of Central American migrants moves through Mexico

Edited by Ed Newman
2019-04-18 13:53:40

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Mexico City, April 18 (RHC)-- Migrants from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras are moving from the southeast Mexican state of Chiapas towards the United States with hundreds of families in dire need of food and water.

"We have not received any help from civilians or entities or the government ... the only thing that accompanies us are police vehicles ... so that we don't step into the high speed lane," Luisa Maria Rosell, a Guatemalan housewife who is travelling with her husband and daughter, complained.

Since earlier this week, around 3,000 migrants left Tapachula City's central park, where they were resting over the weekend after walking more than 14 hours from the Guatemalan border.  The migrant caravan is currently made up of around 5,000 people, according to Mexico’s Federal Police estimates.

"We don't have another option but to migrate.  We don't have another option. And if Trump is not happy, well then... ,” Oscar Romero, a 23-year old Honduran farmer said and added: “We don't come here because we felt like it one day. We come because we have needs. We left family."

This new wave of migrants was seen walking next to the Tapachula-Huehuetan highway in the early morning hours.  Later, Chiapas' authorities unsuccessfully tried to prevent migrants from entering Huixtla, a city which declared an emergency when Central Americans managed to break barriers intended to contain them.

Entire families from Central America hope to reach the U.S. southern border even though Mexico has refused to give them transit permits through its territory.  In their attempt, however, many have been already stopped by immigration agents.

In October 2018, thousands of Hondurans and Salvadorans left their countries in different caravans and crossed Mexico with the desire of reaching the United States and seeking asylum, in an exodus that caused diplomatic clashes between the two countries.

Donald Trump has accused Mexico of failing to contain illegal imigration since last year. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), however, has been collaborating to curb migrant flows by regulating the movement of people and offering job opportunities and better pay for those willing to stay in his country.​​​​​​​

 



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