A caravan with more than 9,000 Honduran migrants He’s traversing western Guatemala this Saturday in search of the United States after overcoming several police devices in recent hours trying to prevent his transit.
The caravan, divided into three groups of about 3,000 people each, passed between Friday evening and next Saturday via the El Florido border post, located 200 kilometers west of Guatemala City, despite the fact that initially the security forces had blocked his path.
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“The hurricane (Eta) has thrown our homes away. And we cannot work because there is a war tax from the ‘maras’ (gangs) for companies, ” said one of the migrants walking the caravan, David González, 32..
Originally from the town of Santa Rosa de Copán, González points out that, after losing his home, he lived under a bridge. “The government says we are not alone, but the truth is that we are alone. They have done nothing to solve anything,” he said. The 9,000 people are part of a migrant caravan organized in Honduras that left San Pedro Sula in stages between Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
The government says we are not alone, but the truth is that we are alone. They haven’t done anything to fix anything
Hondurans are trying 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 made landfall last November.
After crossing the border, the caravan is currently advancing to the department of Chiquimula to follow a route to Mexico, first and later to the United States.
Guatemalan immigration authorities currently reported to them staff “accompany” the caravan through Chiquimula “to avoid incidents on the road.”
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The thousands of Honduran migrants form a new migrant caravan that left the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula last Wednesday.
Unauthorized Access
The Guatemalan government had maintained its position on Friday not to allow the thousands of Honduran migrants to enter the territory.
However, given the large number of people gathering at the border, the National Civil Police officers decided to step aside and let the crowd advance. The authorities had warned that they will not allow Hondurans to enter the country if they fail to meet the requirements set in this regard, especially a negative test for covid-19.
The president’s secretary of social communications, Patricia Letona, told journalists that it is important to emphasize that the authorities are “not letting Hondurans in,” but the migrants “violated the borders and the applicable legal provisions”.
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The Guatemalan government also called on Honduras on Saturday to “stem the mass departure of its residents” via a press release. In the press release, Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei asked the Honduran authorities to stop the outflow of migrants “permanent” through “preventive measures” to “ensure national and regional security”.
The President of Guatemala, Alejandro Giammattei.
‘A better future’
Olga, another migrant who goes into the caravan who would rather not reveal her last name, is confident that she will arrive in the United States and have a brighter future to feed the four minors she travels with, she said.
“If we leave the country, we risk something happening to us, but If we succeed, we arrive in the United States and they give us political asylum, then we can work and take care of our families, ”said Olga.
“As you can see, I have four children. So I have no way to give them studies. I was a street vendor, but they took us out of the terminal where I worked for the privatization. That land,” added the Honduran.
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The Guatemalan Migration Institute said it is “the first time” that one
Migrant caravan enters through the El Florido border post, because “on previous occasions” the Hondurans passed the border crossings of El Corinto and Agua Caliente.
The first caravan of this type left Honduras in 2018 and since then several migrant groups have tried to repeat the journey with thousands of fellow countrymen, although in many cases without success.
EFE
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