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TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) – A growing group of more than 1,500 Honduran migrants heading to the United States has moved to the Guatemalan border on Sunday, witnesses and organizers said.
A large group of Hondurans fleeing poverty and violence travel in a caravan bound for the United States, in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, on October 13, 2018. REUTERS / Jorge Cabrera
The migrants, who included families of adults and children, as well as women who were carrying babies, began a march Saturday from the violent city of San Pedro Sula in the north of the country, a few days after the vice President Mike Pence called on Central America to end mass migration.
The US Embassy in Honduras said it was deeply concerned for the group and that "false promises" were made to people to enter the United States. The Embassy said the situation in Honduras was improving.
The Honduran government took over part of the language, saying that it regretted the situation and that the citizens were "deceived".
The Mexican government on Saturday issued a statement reminding foreign nationals that visas should be sought from consulates and not at the border, saying the rules on migration were "always respected".
Bartolo Fuentes, organizer of the month of March, told Reuters that the participants were not offered anything or promised, but fleeing poverty and violence at home.
Fuentes, a former Honduran lawmaker, said the group grew up on its journey from 1,300 to 1,800 migrants.
The so-called migrant caravan, in which people move in groups, on foot or in vehicles, has developed in part through social media.
The group began arriving Sunday in Nueva Ocotepeque, near the Guatemalan border. The plan is to cross Guatemala and reach Tapachula, in southern Mexico, to apply for humanitarian visas allowing people to cross the country or to obtain asylum, said Fuentes.
Honduras, where about 64 percent of households live in poverty, is afflicted by gangs that violently extort people and businesses.
Last week, Mr. Pence told the Central American countries that the United States was ready to contribute to economic development and investments as they did more to combat mass migration, corruption and corruption. gang violence.
Report by Gustavo Palencia; Edited by Peter Cooney
