SAYULA DE ALEMAN, MEXICO – The Migrant Caravan – the group that crisscrossed the United States during the mid-term election season – went to the state of Veracruz, in the region of the Gulf Coast, during a stage of construction of the roadway.

Women and children walked around. Fathers pushed toddlers in strollers. The young men, meanwhile, were sitting on the top of oil tankers passing through the Tehuantepec Isthmus, clinging to semi-trailers and claiming coveted locations on flatbed trailers and platforms. forms of pickup.

"Make room for women and children," said Claudia Coello, a grandmother traveling with two adult sons, two stepdaughters and a grandchild, after the young men had pushed her to board an agricultural vehicle.

"Women and children walk, men go up like kings," she said sourly. "They do not give us a chance."

The caravan offers little comfort to the thousands of Central Americans who cross Mexico with the goal of going to the American border, perhaps to Tijuana. The migrants are still in weeks and at least 900 miles from the nearest entrance to the US border.

However, few seem dissuaded by fatigue, blisters, extreme heat during the day and torrential rain at night while sleeping in the open air.

According to the Mexican government, about 2,900 migrants arriving in caravans requested asylum, while another 900 asked to be repatriated.

But thousands more are flocking to the US border, preferring to risk an uncertain reception in the United States rather than staying in Mexico – where the government has offered them temporary work visas and benefits – or returning home. . There are also threats from President Donald Trump, who promised that the migrants would not cross the border and sent troops to help stop them.

READ MORE: Stalking Trump Threats, Immigration Claims

Many migrants heading north accept Trump's threats, seeming insane by the harsh speech. Many invoke God when they mention the president, saying that a high power will intervene.

"We do not trust Donald Trump, we trust God," said Coello, adding that she did not plan to leave the caravan or return to Honduras.

"My sons are university graduates and there is no work for them there," she said. "The gangs want them to work (in crime) and if they do not, they will be killed."

Would migrants be slaughtered?

Some of the participants in the caravan, however, listened to the president's comments, especially those involving soldiers engaging with migrants.

"Donald Trump said that if the caravan would throw stones, it would shoot," said Jorge Ulloa, 21, a salesman who was fleeing extortion and gang threats in Honduras. "There are a lot of impulsive young people in the caravan."

The president said on Thursday that migrants could be shot when throwing stones or stones at members of the army, saying the troops would "retaliate" and explaining that any stone would be considered a "weapon". on fire because there is not much difference ".

On Friday, Trump challenged the interpretation of Thursday's comments and told reporters that he hoped they "would not have to shoot".

The role of military deployment remains controversial, with some viewing it as a political coup. Federal and military officials said the troops would be used to strengthen border security.

Regardless of the role of the army, border authorities have often fired at people who were throwing stones at the border, during shots that the Border Patrol has generally described as justified. The agency changed its policy in 2014 to order agents to avoid situations in which they have no choice but to use deadly force against stone throwers.

In 2012, border police officer Lonnie Swartz fired 16 shots across a border fence in Arizona, killing 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez. A jury blocked on charges of manslaughter for Swartz; his new trial is in progress.

More caravans on the way

Friday afternoon, a third caravan, which began in El Salvador, crossed the Suchiate river separating Mexico and Guatemala.

The first of these caravans, which arrived from Honduras on October 12, entered the sweaty Sayula de Aleman junction, 400 km southeast of Mexico City. From there, the caravan will lead the portico of Tierra Blanca, an extremely violent region known for its crimes against migrants such as kidnappings, rapes and extortions – perpetrated by drug cartels and crooked officials.

Manuel Benitez, 36, of Honduran nationality, who said he fled the threats at home, abandoned the trip on Thursday, saying his 12-year-old daughter could no longer stand life on the road. Benitez had tried to cross Veracruz last year to try to reach the US border. But he says he's surrendered and asked to be repatriated after a criminal gang boarded the train he was in, forcing a group of migrants to steal them.

The risks of the road for migrants across Mexico are well known in Central America. But "by going in a caravan, we are not afraid," said Ulloa.

Immigration observers in Central America say that caravans have become popular for security reasons, as migrants rely on their strength. As caravans travel through Mexico, the media provides coverage and organizations such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the United States Commission on Human Rights monitor migrant progress, dissuading thus the police to carry out a mass action against them.

Caravans also allow migrants to avoid paying the cost of "coyotes", smugglers whose rates skyrocketed as the US border became harder to cross and Mexico tightened its own border controls. ;immigration.

Rick Jones, Youth and Migration Advisor at Catholic Relief Services in El Salvador, said the coyotes were asking for "between $ 8,000 and $ 13,000" for the trip.

READ MORE: Migrant caravan persists on foot in Mexico

The first of the caravans left San Pedro Sula, Honduras, on October 12, and proliferated while she was heading north.

It has surpassed police checkpoints and closed borders and has been largely dependent on the generosity of ordinary Mexicans. As the caravan crossed the Isthmus of Tehuantepec – the narrowest point between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific coast – barely 223 km (1,200 km) – the villagers distributed bags of water and threw oranges to those who were at the top of the vehicles.

Halfway to Jesús Carranza Station, halfway to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, where ranches and cornfields give way to banana plantations, Moises Muñoz, 61, has been distributing water, Coca-Cola plastic cups and sandwiches – for women and children – from the taco standing road.

"We do not have a lot, but we share what we can," he said. "It's not good to turn one's back on these people."

The caravan had changed routes earlier in the week, as the coordinators had hoped that buses would be made available to many migrants to get to Mexico City. A project to take the winding, narrow road through the rugged Sierra Madre to the city of Oaxaca has also been abandoned as it is considered too dangerous. Late Friday, it was announced to the migrants that they would travel to the capital to buses in the national capital so that the offer was canceled almost immediately.

Instead, the caravan is headed towards the Tehuantepec Isthmus. At its first stop in the railway town of Matías Romero on Thursday night – a caravan in April stalled after Trump began to tweet his disapproval of his progress – heavy rains soaked migrants who then sought shelter.

Some of the migrants fled to an abandoned hotel after being inundated with a nearby sports field. Many others crashed under awnings along the road, even though sleep was rare, as trucks drove through the night. On the downtown basketball courts, a group of young people played reggae music, smoked and socialized among sleepy families – causing a confrontation at 1:15.

"There is always someone who makes noise," retorted a gruff man who confronted the noisy group. He lit a cigarette and sipped a cup of coffee, unable to go back to sleep.

The Journalist of the Republic, Rob O & # 39; Dell, contributed to this article.

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