Tegucigalpa.
Most of the thousands of Honduran migrants that this Friday they left their country with the idea of arriving at United States, They changed the route at the last minute to reach the border with Guatemala, one of the participants in the mobilization told Efe.
“At the last minute the decision was made to shorten the trip and because we saw a lot of exaggerated mobilization of police and army trucks following us,” he said. José Bardales, Who comes from a banana field near the municipality of La Lima, department of Cortés, in northern Honduras.
He explained that, in principle, the idea was to leave the country by the customs point of Hot Water, department of Ocotepeque, but that in the end they decided to do it by the Florido, Copán, both in the west of Honduras, By monitoring the security forces, who “just realized, turned around and gave us scope.”
“They – the police – say they will not bother, but it is always different what they say, to what they act. We are talking to all the colleagues who have arrived in El Florido to see if we make the decision to leave tomorrow morning,” he stressed. bardales.
Also, tonight many of the migrants who were coming back were waiting.
The idea of leaving in the early hours of this Saturday “is better,” says Bardales, “because that way, if there was an act against us, the Guatemalan police and Honduras they will not be able to allege that we did a relaxation in the darkness of the night “.
THE STATE SHOULD SEND WATER AND LUNCH, SAYS bardales
Bardales reported that since Thursday he arrived at the Metropolitan Bus Station of San Pedro Sula, in the north of the country, to leave this morning with the caravan, which has been promoted on social media since last day 1.
Arriving in El Florido, Bardales reported that the trip “is very tired”, with “a precarious situation on this road and quite cruel”, and that the Honduran state has been responsible for “sending trucks with police and the military, instead of sending water and food. “
“We are in need of what we have suffered from the covid – 19 pandemic and the storms Iota and Eta which we ended up ruining at the end of last year, ”said the migrant, who further noted that his wife and nine-year-old daughter left them at their in-laws’ house.
Bardales indicated that in the banana field of Guaruma, where he has lived for many years, they have “lost everything with the family” due to the severe floods that left Eta y Iota, And that in the caravan he goes with seven relatives together, between cousins and nephews.
“On the way people were moved by us, some gave us water, an omelette, others gave us a milestone in their car so we would not walk and took us as far as they could,” he said.
At some points on the road, they were forced by police to get off in the transports in which the migrants were traveling, according to Bardales, an automotive mechanic, who allowed him to “do the occasional very sporadic job.” .
In El Florido, Efe was able to see today that on the Honduran side there were at least 150 elements of the Police, while the number is much larger in the Guatemalan border territory.
“My wife and I were getting up with a small business that we had in our house, which we lost by 90 percent, now what I want is to keep fighting to recover, so I decided to leave for see if I get to United States to work for a while and then come back, ”the Honduran migrant said.
He added that his family’s house, which was “partially damaged by the floods”, is “paying him through a contract” and does not want to lose it.
THE CARAVAN IS SOMETHING VERY HARD FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN
Bardales said he left his wife and daughter with their in-laws, because the caravan route “is very hard, not at all easy for women and children.”
“It hurts to leave your homeland, you want to move your people forward, but social and political situations do not allow us and then one has to make such decisions,” he stressed.
Cardales’ idea is to “work hard in the United States,” where he says he has “some cousins,” and he knows that “the money isn’t going to be collected, as many believe, but it’s hard work to earn it.”
“We have to go and fight to get ahead of our dream of getting up, the idea is to go to the United States, Work and return to our homeland, which we know is rich, but is in the hands of few people who are the beneficiaries of the country, “he stressed, recalling that his little daughter” was left crying when I left. ” .