‘CARAVAN’ FLOATS INTO MEXICO
Honduran migrant marchers stopped on Guatemala bridge make rafts to cross river border
Thousands of Honduran migrants whose journey towards the United States has triggered a series of tirades from Donald Trump resumed their long march yesterday after crossing a river into Mexico.
On Thursday, Mexican authorities had managed to block the “caravan” of migrants on a border bridge between Mexico and Guatemala but many later crossed the river below using makeshift rafts – regrouping early yesterday to march north.
“No one is going to stop us, after all we’ve gone through” said 21-year-old Aaron Juarez, who was accompanied by his wife and baby and was walking with difficulty because of an injury.
“We are tired, but very happy, said Edwin Geovanni Enamorado, a Honduran farmer who was part of the caravan. “We are united and strong.” He said he was forced to leave his country because of intimidation by racketeering gangs.
The marchers left San Pedro Sula in northern Honduras – 700 kilometres to the south – last weekend, following a call on social networks relayed by a former Honduran deputy.
Yesterday morning, about 1,000 migrants, including women and children, were still stranded on a border bridge hoping to enter Mexico legally via Guatemala.
Mexican authorities insisted those on the bridge would have to file asylum claims in order to enter the country.
The authorities opened the border to women and children who were then taken to a shelter in the city of Tapachula, about 40km from Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico.
Throughout Saturday, about 900 migrants – tired of waiting on the bridge – resorted to crossing the Suchiate River on makeshift rafts and police did not intervene as they clambered up the muddy river bank on the Mexican side.
They are now heading to Tapachula, the next stop on a journey of at least 3,000km to the border between Mexico and the US.
The caravan has triggered escalating anti-immigrant rhetoric from US President Donald Trump on Twitter.
He has threatened to cut aid to the region, send in the military and close the US-Mexican border if authorities do not stop the migrants. At a rally in Elko, Nevada, on Saturday, he said: “The Democrats want caravans, they like the caravans. A lot of people say ‘I wonder who started that caravan?’”
Before the march resumed, he thanked Mexican authorities on Saturday for their efforts to block it.
“Mexico will not allow irregular entry into its territory, much less violent,” Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said on Friday night in a video message.
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez and his Guatemalan counterpart Jimmy Morales met on Saturday and agreed the caravan was politically motivated.
“This migration has political motivations, which is violating the borders and the good faith of the states and putting at risk the most important thing, people,” said President Morales,
President Hernandez also deplored “the abuse of people’s needs” for “political reasons”.
“Without a doubt, we have a lot to do so that our people can have opportunities in their communities,” Mr Hernandez said.
Guatemala has organised a fleet of buses to take Hondurans back to their country and by late on Saturday, 300 people had returned.
The migrants are fleeing poverty in Honduras, where gangs rule their turf with violence. With a homicide rate of 43 per 100,000 citizens, Honduras is one of the most violent countries in the world, according to a Honduran university study.