How the migrant caravan has become so big and why it continues to grow

HUIXTLA , Mexico – Edith Cruz was sitting at her home in central Honduras, swiping Facebook on her phone, when she saw the message on the caravan on a community information page.

It was October 12th. She and her cousin had just opened a small business selling tortillas while they were facing a gang, threatened with death if they did not pay back half their profits. She looked at the Facebook post: "An avalanche of Hondurans is preparing to leave in a caravan in the United States. Share this! In less than three hours, his luggage was packed.

The question of how the migrant caravan began began to make its way to the mid-term US elections. President Trump and other Republicans have suggested Democrats pay migrants to begin the journey. As the group continues to grow, the largest of these caravans in recent years, its beginnings are scrutinized: how have more than 5,000 Central American migrants met?

Although the history of the caravan remains somewhat opaque, the response of many migrants down here have wanted to leave for months or even years, then, in a Facebook post, a TV show , a WhatsApp group, they saw a picture of the growing group and decided.

I knew I would leave, "said Irma Rosales, 37, of Santa Ana, El Salvador, who saw footage of the caravan on television and bought a bus ticket to the group in Guatemala. last week.

I was expecting the way to reach the north, then I heard about the caravan, "said Ediberto Fuentes, 30, who had fled Honduras for southern Mexico but was stuck for months without the money needed to pay a smuggler who would go to the United States.

"I made my bag in 30 minutes," said Jose Mejia, 16 years, from Ocotepeque, Honduras, who heard about the caravan when his friend knocked on his door at 4 am and simply said, "We go there."

A Central American sits under a plastic of fortune tries to Huixtla Tuesday. (Alejandro Cegarra / Bloomberg)

Tuesday, they stopped in the small town Huixtla, in southern Mexico, washing themselves in buckets of water, sending messages to their families from cybercafés, accepting donations that locals were willing to make. offer. According to reports, hundreds of other Central American migrants attracted by endless media coverage were on the way.

The Honduran government claims that community activists, led by a former legislator named Bartolo Fuentes, were behind the group, intent on denigrating the country's rulers. Most of the migrants here are still from Honduras.

"There is clear evidence of its origin. Bartolo was the person who was in front of the media; Alden Rivera Montes, Honduras' ambbadador to Mexico, said in an interview

"They were trying to show Honduras as a bankrupt country, which is totally false," said Rivera Montes. 19659016] Vice President Pence said in an interview with the Washington Post on Tuesday that the President of Honduras had told him that the caravan was funded by Venezuela's left-wing government. There is no evidence to support this claim.

Fuentes told The Post that he was only helping to connect small groups of potential migrants who were already planning to go to the north. In September, Facebook groups posted articles on the caravan projects.

"Those people who normally migrated, hidden day after day, decided to get together and travel together to protect themselves," Fuentes said.

He stated that he was in contact with four groups of future migrants who were discussing about WhatsApp and other social networks – in Tegucigalpa, the capital, as well as La Ceiba, Colon and San Pedro Sula – on the possibility of traveling together

"They contacted me; they said, "We have seen what you have written; we want you to tell us how the caravan left in March, "he said.

Fuentes had a long career as a political activist on the left of Honduras, a former student leader who had protested against the war" against " Supported by the United States to overthrow the neighboring Nicaraguan government, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 2013 and hosted a radio program on migration titled "Without Borders." He is a fierce critic of The President. Juan Orlando Hernández

A week before the caravan started, Fuentes published on its Facebook page a leaflet on the caravan where it was written: "We will not go because we want, violence and poverty we hunt. He called people to meet on October 12 at 8 am at the San Pedro Sula bus terminal.

"We will accompany these people," wrote Fuentes on Facebook on October 5. less for departure.

The beginnings of the caravan received increasing media coverage in Honduras, particularly from HCH, a popular television channel in the country. By the time people started gathering at the bus terminal on October 11 and 12, there were live feeds on various Facebook pages. Before the Americans heard about it, the caravan had become viral in Central America.

"Everyone wants to know who is guilty, who is behind all that," said Irineo Mujica, director of Pueblos Sin Fronteras, Tijuana for this caravan and previous caravans, helping to organize itineraries and other logistics "But no one has the power to organize as many people. Nobody can organize an exodus. "

In mid-October, the explosion of media coverage and viral publications on social media in Central America caused an explosion in the number of migrants. A few days after the departure of the caravan of San Pedro Sula on October 13, hardly anyone could understand the official history of the group. They could only name the publication on Facebook or the TV show that led to their own decision to emigrate.

Many migrants saw the caravan grow in real time, surprised by the rise in numbers.

"When I arrived at the terminal bus (in San Pedro Sula), there were 30 people. A few hours later, there were hundreds, "said 32-year-old Jose Vijin from northwestern Honduras.

Central Americans queued Tuesday to donate food to Huixtla (Alejandro Cegarra / Bloomberg)

Migrant caravans have been crossing Central America for several years, as part of a human rights protest and an effort to ensure a safe pbadage for Central Americans on the road. North American Normally, a Central American American emigrating to the United States must pay a series of smugglers bound by an agreement to make the trip, which may be more than $ 10,000. relatively safe and virtually free migration.

The last caravan, which had left southern Mexico in March, had so attracted the attention of the media, especially in its last days, that "She had laid the groundwork for the current, greater exodus," said many migrants. The current group is exponentially larger than previous caravans. Hondurans, Guatemalans and Salvadorians who missed their chances this spring decided to join the group this time

By the time Irma Rosales heard about the caravan in El Salvador, migrants were already approaching the border Guatemalan. Her husband had been murdered a year earlier, she said, and after reporting the crime to the police, MS-13 threats began to call her.

"I did not have the money to pay a coyote. caravan was the only way, "she said.

After seeing the group's images on TV, she typed" migrant caravana "into Google and found that the migrants had to reach the border between Guatemala and Mexico in two days, On October 19, she paid about $ 10 for three separate bus tickets, traveling for 16 hours and traveling to the border in time to pick up the caravan.

She then bought a card Mexican telephone and text message to her cousin in Chicago 19659036] "I arrive," she wrote.

Reported by Partlow in Mexico, Gabriela Martinez in Mexico and Nick Miroff in Washington contributed to this report

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