Migrant caravan back on path to US.
ISLA, MEXICO >> Thousands of bone-tired Central Americans set their sights on Mexico City on Sunday, after undertaking a grueling journey through a part of Mexico that has been particularly treacherous for migrants seeking to get to the United States.
The majority of the roughly 4,000 migrants streamed into the town of Cordoba in the Gulf Coast state of Veracruz, a gateway to the central part of the country 124 miles from their previous stop. The day’s trek was one of the longest yet, as the exhausted migrants tried to make progress walking and hitching rides toward the U.S.-Mexico border hundreds of miles away.
It is unclear what part of the border they will aim for eventually, but their latest overnight stay in Veracruz could be one of their last before they head to Mexico City, a potential launching spot for a broader array of destinations.
In the capital, they may also receive additional support, although Mexican officials have appeared conflicted over whether to help or hinder their journey.
Manuel Calderon, 43, a migrant from El Salvador, knew many miles lay ahead and said he wanted to “speed up the pace.” He said he was fleeing violence in his home country and had dreams of making it back to the U.S., from which he was deported a little more than two years ago.
On the road, he was greeted by ordinary Mexicans lending a hand. Catalina Munoz said she bought tortillas on credit to assemble tacos of beans, cheese and rice when she heard the migrant caravan would pass through Benemerito Juarez, her tiny town of 3,000 inhabitants. She gathered 15 others to help make the tacos, fill water bottles and carry fruit to weary travelers on the roadside.
As migrants began filing into a sports complex in Cordoba, others had hopped freight trucks to Puebla and even Mexico City. A few arrived at a large outdoor stadium in the capital and lounged on bleachers a day after divisions beset the ranks of the caravan over which route to take.
Some were disappointed when organizers unsuccessfully pleaded for buses after three weeks on the road. Others were angry for being directed northward through Veracruz, calling it the “route of death.”
The trek past the state’s sugar fields and fruit groves has taken the majority through a state where hundreds of migrants have disappeared in recent years, falling prey to kidnappers looking for ransom payments. Authorities there said in September they discovered remains from at least 174 people buried in clandestine graves, raising questions about whether the bodies belonged to migrants.
But even with the group somewhat more scattered, most of the migrants were convinced that traveling as a large mass was their best hope for reaching the U.S. The migrants generally say they are fleeing rampant poverty, gang violence and political instability primarily in the Central American countries of Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua.
“We think that it is better to continue together with the caravan. We are going to stay with it and respect the organizers,” said Luis Euseda, a 32-year-old from Tegucigalpa, Honduras.