Migrants’ hopes are dashed after bus offer is reversed
DONAJI, Mexico — After three grueling weeks walking along highways and hitching rides, thousands of Central American migrants traveling in a caravan through southern Mexico were told Friday that they would soon be leapfrogging ahead to the nation’s capital in buses only to have their hopes dashed when the offer was pulled.
As the caravan crossed into the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, Gov. Miguel Angel Yunes announced authorities there would be providing not only humanitarian assistance but also offering mass transportation for the migrants.
“It is very important that they be able to move soon from Veracruz toward another place,” Yunes said in a video message released in the evening. “For that reason, we also offered them transportation so that, if possible, tomorrow … they may be able to go to Mexico City or to the place they wish.”
During an evening assembly, caravan organizers told the migrants they would be leaving around 5 a.m. for the capital in dozens of buses, apparently enough to accommodate the several thousand people in the group.
“We are all going!” one the coordinators told the group.
But then Yunes released a second video saying that because Mexico City’s water system was undergoing maintenance and much of the city would be without water over the weekend, it would not be correct to send the migrants there.
Instead he offered to take the migrants to another city in Veracruz until the problem in Mexico City is resolved.
Migrants expressed surprise and disappointment at the decision.
The offer of buses to Mexico City and the subsequent reversal came after the migrants’ request for buses to the capital were ignored by the Mexican government days earlier.
Earlier in the day, a third caravan of migrants — this time from El Salvador — waded over the Suchiate River into Mexico on Friday, bringing another 1,000 to 1,500 people who want to reach the U.S. border.
The third caravan tried to cross the bridge between Guatemala and Mexico, but Mexican authorities told them they would have to show passports and visas and enter in groups of 50 for processing.
The Salvadorans expressed misgivings that they would be deported, so they turned around and waded across a shallow stretch of the river to enter Mexico.