Migrants break through fence to enter Mexico
Central Americans travelling in a mass caravan broke through a Guatemalan border fence and streamed by the thousands toward Mexican territory yesterday, defying Mexican authorities’ entreaties for an orderly migration and United States President Donald Trump’s threats of retaliation.
Arriving on the Mexican side of a border bridge, the migrants were met by a phalanx of police with riot shields. About 50 managed to push their way through before officers used pepper spray and the rest retreated.
The gates were closed again, and a federal police officer used a loudspeaker to address the masses, saying: ‘‘We need you to stop the aggression.’’
Waving Honduran flags and carrying umbrellas to protect against the sun, the migrants arrived earlier at the Guatemalan side of the muddy Suchiate River, which divides the country from Mexico, noisily demanding to be let in.
Young men began tugging on the fencing and finally succeeded in tearing it down, and men, women and children rushed through and towards the border bridge just up the road.
Edwin Santos of San Pedro Sula was one of the first to race past helpless Guatemalan police, clutching the hands of his father and wife. ‘‘We are going to the United States!’’ he shouted euphorically. ‘‘Nobody is going to stop us!’’
Earlier, Mexico’s ambassador to Guatemala said his country intended to enforce what he called a policy of orderly entry in the face of the thousands trying to cross. Luis Manuel Lopez Moreno added that more than 100 migrants had been allowed to cross the bridge to apply for refugee status, including some who were from the caravan and others who were not.
Meanwhile, the rafts that normally ferry throngs of people across the river were carrying mostly merchandise. Raft operators said they had been warned by Mexican authorities not to carry people.
Jose Porfirio Orellana, a 47-year-old acorn and bean farmer from Yoro province in Honduras, said he hoped to reach the US due to woeful economic conditions in his country. ‘‘There is nothing there,’’ he said.
The first members of the 3000-strong caravan began arriving in the Guatemalan border town of Tecun Uman on buses and trucks on Thursday, but the bulk of the group sloshed into town on foot during a downpour.
Jonathan Guzman, who joined the caravan en route, said he dreamed of finding a construction job in Los Angeles. ‘‘It’s the third time that I’m trying to cross,’’ the 22-year-old Salvadoran said.
Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Videgaray said those with passports and valid visas would be let in immediately,
‘‘We are going to the United States! Nobody is going to stop us!’’
Edwin Santos, Honduran migrant
though he acknowledged that ‘‘we anticipate those are the minority’’.
Those who wanted to apply for refuge in Mexico would be welcome to do so ‘‘if they have a vulnerable situation in their country of origin’’, Videgaray said.
Any who decide to cross illegally and are caught will be detained and deported, the Mexican government has said.
Trump has made it clear to Mexico that he is monitoring its response. He threatened to close the US border if Mexico let the migrants advance. Later, he retweeted a video of Mexican federal police arriving at the Guatemalan border and wrote: ‘‘Thank you Mexico, we look forward to working with you!’’
In April, Mexican immigration officials had some success in dispersing a smaller caravan by processing many who decided to seek refugee status in Mexico, but some did continue on to the US border. –AP