A caravan made up of more than 9,000 Honduran migrants crosses western Guatemala this Saturday in search of reaching the United States after overcoming in the last hours several police devices that wanted to prevent their passage.
The caravan, divided into three groups of about 3,000 people each, took place between Friday night and this Saturday by the border post El Florido, located 200 kilometers west of Guatemala City, Although initially security forces had blocked his path.
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“Hurricane (Eta) blew up our houses. And we can’t work because there’s a ‘maras’ (gang) war tax for business,” said David González, one of the migrants walking the caravan. of 32 years.
Originally from the city of Santa Rosa de Copán, González points out that, after losing his home, he has lived under a bridge. “The government says we are not alone, but the truth is if we are alone. They have done nothing to resolve anything,” he asserts. The 9,000 people are part of a migrant caravan organized in Honduras and which left San Pedro Sula in different phases between Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
The Government says we are not alone, but the truth if we are alone. They have done nothing to solve anything
Hondurans are looking to reach the United States for better living conditions, away from the poverty and violence that plague the isthmus, especially after the pandemic and hurricanes Eta and Iota that hit land last November.
After crossing the border, the caravan is currently advancing over the Chiquimula department to chart a route to Mexico, first, and then to the United States.
Guatemalan immigration authorities reported that currently theirs staff “accompanies” the caravan through Chiquimula “to prevent incidents on the road.”
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Thousands of Honduran migrants make up a new migrant caravan that left the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula last Wednesday.
Admission without authorization
The Guatemalan government had maintained its position on Friday not to allow thousands of Honduran migrants to enter the territory.
However, in the face of the large number of people who had gathered at the border, the agents of the National Civil Police decided to take a step to the side and let the crowd advance. Authorities had warned that Hondurans would not be allowed into the country if they did not comply with the requirements. especially a negative test of covid-19.
The president’s secretary of social communication, Patricia Letona, told reporters that it was important to emphasize that the authorities “do not let Hondurans in”, but migrants “violate existing borders and legal provisions.”
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The Guatemalan government also called on Honduras on Saturday to “contain the mass exodus of its inhabitants” through a press release. In a press release, Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei called on the Honduran authorities to stop the outflow of migrants. “On a permanent basis” through “preventive actions” to “ensure national and regional security”.
The President of Guatemala, Alejandro Giammattei.
‘A better future’
Olga, another migrant who goes in the caravan and who prefers not to disclose her last name, is confident of arriving in the United States and having a better future to feed the four minors she travels with, she said.
“If we leave the country we risk anything happening to us, however if we get it, we get to the United States and they give us political asylum, we will be able to work and support our families, ”Olga explained.
“As you can see I have four children. Then I don’t have the opportunity to give them studies. I was a street vendor, but they took us out of the terminal where I worked and privatized it. And they took us out like dogs, as we do, as if we were worthless in this country, “the Honduran added.
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The Guatemalan Migration Institute indicated that it is “the first time” that one
migrant caravan enters through the border site El Florido, since “on previous occasions” Hondurans used to advance through the border crossings of Corinth and Hot Water.
The first caravan of this type came out in 2018 from Honduras and since then several migrant groups have tried to repeat the journey alongside thousands of compatriots, although without success in many cases.
EFE
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