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TAPACHULA, Mexico – Thousands of Honduran migrants gathered Monday morning in southern Mexico to decide when to travel to the US border, as President Trump threatened to end international aid. to the countries of Central America for not having stopped the caravan. .
Some caravan officials said the migrants, most of whom had illegally crossed the Mexican border, would continue their trip northward to the southern state of Oaxaca on Monday. would rest a few days before deciding to separate into groups to continue their journey to the United States. border.
The 10-day caravan march through Honduras, Guatamela and Mexico fueled a new political divide between their leaders and Mr. Trump, just two weeks before the mid-term elections in the United States.
In a series of tweets on Monday, Mr Trump said that he had alerted the US border patrol and the army that the caravan was a national emergency. He criticized El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico for failing to arrest the group or restricting the flow of migrants in any way, called for a recasting of US legislation on the subject. Immigration and urged his supporters: "Remember the mid-term!
The caravan has grown to around 5,000 since October 12, when several hundred people decided to go hiking in the north. The numbers grew rapidly after local media and social activists drew attention to the caravan. Leftist politicians gave them more visibility by using it to blame the Honduran government for not offering economic opportunities at home. After a pilgrimage through Guatemala, the caravan went to Tecun Uman, on the border between Mexico and Guatemala, last Wednesday.
Over the weekend, Mexican border officials refused to let the caravan enter the country, saying that they would only allow about 150 people at a time to apply for asylum. . The caravan is then divided into groups. Several hundred people have at least returned by bus to Honduras, and another party said that they would accept Mexico's asylum offer. But a third group, which seemed to be the most important, crossed the river illegally, using rafts held by smugglers.
Mexico seemed unable or unwilling to stop the latter group.
This Monday, thousands, this group has settled in the central square of this coastal city, still close to the Guatemalan border. Many were children, some had shoulders. Many migrants were visibly exhausted and hungry after 10 days of incessant travel. Most slept outside on the square, using their backpacks as pillows.
The group faces a difficult journey through some of Mexico's most violent regions. There are several routes, including a 1,100-kilometer long trip to the border town of Reynosa, across from McAllen, Texas, or a much longer drive of 2,420 km to Tijuana, across from San Diego.
"We can not all go to the northern border together," said Irineo Mujica, head of People without Borders, a US-Mexican non-profit organization that has been supporting the caravan since it arrived in Guatemala. "You can not move such a large group for hundreds of miles. Impossible."
He also said that a huge caravan going through Mexico just days before the US mid-term encouraged Mr. Trump. "If this complete caravan arrives at the US border, it would be like a declaration of war," said Mujica.
Others remained confident that the caravan could remain united and travel to the US border. "The plan is to arrive in Tijuana! The fight continues, we do not give up, "said Denis Contreras, a Honduran migrant and social activist who helps organize the caravan, a speaker in hand.
Most migrants say they want to travel to the United States but do not usually know what legal options they have in front of them. Many said they were determined to abandon Honduras, which is one of the highest rates of violence in the world. When they learned on TV that a caravan had moved from San Pedro Sula north, many thought the time was right to leave.
"I was in my apartment near Tegucigalpa when I saw the [my news] Maria Rodriguez, 17, said that a gang of criminals had extorted the affairs of her family. "I thought to myself: it's my opportunity."
She said the gang had claimed a "war tax", because if you do not pay, the gang destroys your business and kills you.
Mexican officials have repeatedly warned migrants that anyone crossing the river illegally would be deported. But so far, Mexico has not moved against the caravan.
A spokeswoman for the Mexican Migration Agency said the border between Mexico and Guatemala was porous. "There are many informal entry points" along the river, she said. "Those who entered the country illegally will be expelled."
On Sunday, Trump warned the migrants in a Twitter message that if they did not accept Mexico's offer of asylum, they would not be able to enter the United States.
The White House did not say how the United States would begin to change the amount of aid it sends to El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico. For fiscal year 2019, the United States plans to send about $ 70 million worth of aid to Guatemala, $ 66 million to Honduras and $ 46 million to El Salvador, according to the Department of Health. 39; State. Most funds go to violence prevention, justice and law enforcement programs, as well as funds for border and narcotics fraud.
Trump seized the caravan to rally Republican voters ahead of the Nov. 6 elections. Senate races are held in the US border states of Arizona and Texas. On Monday, the president urged his supporters: "Remember the midterms! He also stated, without any evidence, that the caravan was carrying "criminals and strangers from the Middle East".
A caravan of about 3,000 migrants fleeing Honduras continues to gather near the border between Guatemala and Mexico, with President Donald Trump threatening to deploy the army and close the US-Mexico border. Photo: Reuters
The caravan of immigrants puts Mexico in a difficult position, said Jorge Chabat, expert on Mexican-American relations at the University of Guadalajara. Mexican officials have long said that patrolling the entire border was difficult. Despite this, Mexico has deported a growing number of Central Americans in recent years, partly under pressure from the United States.
"There is pressure from Trump to fire the migrants, but how do you do it with the thousands of people who have gone through without having an incident where someone could be killed?" Chabat said. "But if you let them all come in, then tomorrow you'll have four more caravans."
Honduras has closed one of the three main border crossing points with Guatemala since Saturday after two trucks loaded with migrants broke into Guatemala via a Honduran police line.
Moises Starkman, professor of political economy at the Universidad Tecnica de America Central in Honduras, said he believed that immigration from Honduras to the United States would continue unabated in the near future.
"The magnet of the American dream is very powerful," he said. "Many more people will leave depending on what happens to this caravan."
Write to Juan Montes at [email protected]
